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
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
March Vocabulary Words
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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:
It has been six months since world number one Scottie Scheffler won a golf tournament.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
At 25-under par, he bested Scheffler by three strokes and set the tournament scoring record.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Odysseus, a star player for the Achaeans, fresh off a stunning victory over rival Troy, embarks on an international tournament against a series of forbidding opponents.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Spain beat Argentina 1-0 in the tournament final, in a foul-heavy match that ended with a brawl on the pitch and the Argentine squad turning its back during the trophy ceremony.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
He was psychically injured from not winning the tournament, and he couldn’t eradicate the sting of his four bitter losses—robberies, he called them—to Tal.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
"I think I've been really close to winning some tournaments and that can be frustrating," Scheffler said before the Scottish Open.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Divers have said are keen to see the diving pools brought back into use and and water polo and underwater hockey players are hopeful the 50m pool could host matches and tournaments.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
What U.S. media rights to the 2030 and 2034 World Cup tournaments could fetch, according to some TV and media executives.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
The matches had a total attendance of 561,656 people, about 99.6% of capacity — that’s more than each of the first three World Cups drew for the entire tournaments.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
I attended more tournaments, each one farther away from home.
From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan
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.
