tournament
Americannoun
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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
- pretournament noun
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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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.
They had lost six of their last eight games, had just fired their coach and had saw their second-leading scorer go down with a broken leg in the Olympic tournament.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2026
LSU and Oklahoma have also struggled on the variable bars routine during the tournament.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026
Mexico is the sixth tournament of LIV's 2026 season, following events in Saudi Arabia, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and South Africa.
From BBC • Apr. 16, 2026
As PIF considered pulling the plug, more than 50 LIV players were in Mexico on Wednesday ahead of a midseason tournament due to begin on Thursday.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026
Unfortunately, cultured or not, Bobby played poorly in the tournament at first.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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.
