tournament
Americannoun
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tournaments
plural
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a trial of skill in some game, in which competitors play a series of contests.
a chess tournament.
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a meeting for contests in a variety of sports, as between teams of different nations.
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History/Historical.
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a contest or martial sport in which two opposing parties of mounted and armored combatants fought for a prize, with blunted weapons and in accordance with certain rules.
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a meeting at an appointed time and place for the performance of knightly exercises and sports.
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noun
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a sporting competition in which contestants play a series of games to determine an overall winner
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a meeting for athletic or other sporting contestants
an archery tournament
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medieval history
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(originally) a martial sport or contest in which mounted combatants fought for a prize
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(later) a meeting for knightly sports and exercises
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Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of tournament
1175–1225; Middle English tornement < Old French torneiement, equivalent to torne ( ier ) to tourney + -ment -ment
Explanation
A tournament refers to a gathering of competitors playing a series of games. There are chess tournaments, golf tournaments, tennis tournaments, and a number of tournaments titled “Tournament of Champions.” In medieval times, large groups of knights would gather and compete in a tournament. These tournaments were composed of a number of fighting events. In the melee event, the knights were divided into two teams which would ride at each other with lances, trying to unhorse the opposing knights. There is evidence that weapons were not blunted for these tournaments. Ouch.
Vocabulary lists containing tournament
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English Words Derived from French, List 2
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List 8
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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.
See Examples For:
After only officially dating for two days following Rodriguez’s tournament, Schalk invited Rodriguez to Kauai, Hawaii, in January.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
With four overseas players introduced this year, fewer emerging players have been given much responsibility during the tournament, but Sunrisers' batters struggled with Phillips' slinging, awkward action.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Rodriguez had to win her upcoming tournament in order to go out with Schalk.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
By the time she played her first tournament in London, she was hooked, and it wouldn’t take long for the chess world to notice that there was an unusually precocious girl on the scene.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Bobby received $1,000 for his tournament win—and the Fischer family’s pocketbook bulged further when Bobby’s maternal grandfather, Jacob Wender, passed away, leaving $14,000 of his estate to Regina.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
The couple met briefly while playing at various beach volleyball events, but they really got to know each other and clicked while spending three weeks together during tournaments in China, India and the Philippines.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
Although Koepka rejoined the Tour this year through a special returning member program crafted for recent major champions who had left, he spent the year shut out from many of its biggest tournaments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
It effectively means the likes of Scotland and the Netherlands face three qualifying tournaments to reach the main group stage of the World Cup.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
The Salvadoran had already officiated games featuring Messi during his career in various tournaments and at the 2026 World Cup, he faced some of the most renowned soccer players on the planet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
A wrestler’s ranking is based on his performance in the elite tournaments that are held six times a year.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
