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tennis

American

[ten-is] / ˈtɛn ɪs /

noun

a game played on a rectangular court by two players or two pairs of players equipped with rackets, in which a ball is driven back and forth over a low net that divides the court in half.

tennis British

/ ˈtɛnɪs /

noun

1. a racket game played between two players or pairs of players who hit a ball to and fro over a net on a rectangular court of grass, asphalt, clay, etc See also lawn tennis real tennis court tennis table tennis
2. ( as modifier )
  
  tennis court
  tennis racket

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of tennis

1350–1400; Middle English tenetz, ten ( e ) ys < Anglo-French: take!, imperative plural of tenir to hold, take, receive, apparently used as a server's call

Explanation

Tennis anyone? Tennis is a sport that's played with a small, felt-covered rubber ball and rackets. The basic goal in tennis is hitting the ball across a net. There are two types of tennis: singles, when two individuals face off, and doubles, which involves teams of two players. If you can hit a tennis ball with a racket, you can play tennis. Historians believe that tennis grew out of a 12th century French game called la paulme, "the palm," in which players hit a ball with their hands. The word tennis comes from the Anglo-French tenetz, "Hold! Take! Receive!" which players called out before serving.

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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tennis

Reginald Johnston introduced the Chinese emperor to bicycle-riding, photography, tennis and the films of Buster Keaton.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026

Stojsavljevic started playing tennis aged seven at Ealing Lawn Tennis Club in north-west London after watching her brother practise.

From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026

A number of events in Saudi Arabia have been cancelled recently, including the Six Kings Slam tennis exhibition event, which was scheduled to be in Riyadh.

From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026

“Mamma mia, Kimi!” five-time major tennis champion Jannik Sinner said in a video message to him.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026

“And that’s her brother next to her—he went down on the Titanic, poor thing. They found his tennis racket floating around in the North Atlantic about three weeks afterward.”

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023