sport
/spɔːt
/noun
1An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment: team sports such as soccer and rugby [mass noun]: I used to play a lot of sport (as modifier sports) a sports centre...
- It is a sport that combines the best aspects of one-on-one competition but is also very much a team sport.
- To use a sports metaphor for a moment, the history of sports is littered with teams that had lots of individual stars on them, but never made it to the championship game.
- It's always great to watch your favourite team play their sport, it's even better when they win.
Synonyms
(competitive) game(s), physical recreation, physical activity, physical exercise;
pastime
1.1 (sports) British An occasion on which people compete in various athletic activities: I won the 200 metres in the school sports
1.2 [mass noun, usually with adjective] Success or pleasure derived from an activity such as hunting or fishing: I have heard there is good sport to be had in Buttermere...
- Hunting with hounds demands great skill and the key to keeping your clientele as a hunt is to provide good sport.
1.3 [mass noun] dated Entertainment; fun: it was considered great sport to catch him out...
- The physical challenges reminded me too much of gym class, but the mind games were great sport.
- Hunting in Shakespeare is normally for exercise or sport.
- Over centuries of practice a whole elaborate system of rules and customs evolved to ensure this, not primarily for the sake of the quarry itself but with the aim of providing a good day's sport.
1.4 archaic A source of amusement or entertainment: I do not wish to show myself the sport of a man like Wildeve
2 informal A person who behaves in a good or specified way in response to teasing, defeat, or a similarly trying situation: go on, be a sport! Angela’s a bad sport...
- She was a pretty good sport especially considering some of the scenes and lines she had to deliver.
- Just seeing that clip go through, I was cracking up and I think Cate's such a good sport to send herself up in that way.
2.1chiefly Australian /NZ Used as a friendly form of address, especially between men who do not know each other: hold on, sport!
3 Biology An animal or plant showing abnormal or striking variation from the parent type, especially in form or colour, as a result of spontaneous mutation.
verb
1 [with object] Wear or display (a distinctive item): he was sporting a huge handlebar moustache...
- Here, the initial H is formed by two performers sporting long tunics and distinctive pointed shoes.
- The identically shaped sculptures each sport distinctive coloration, as well as striped or polka-dotted underpants.
- The smiling father sports a rifle nestled at his hip and wears a hat emblazoned with a coat of arms.
Synonyms
wear, display, exhibit, have on show, show off, flourish, parade, flaunt
2 [no object] Play in a lively, energetic way: the children sported in the water...
- He spent the day sporting with the lady of the castle and the old woman, while the lord of the castle was out hunting the enormous boar.
Synonyms
play, have fun, amuse oneself, entertain oneself, enjoy oneself, divert oneself, frolic, gambol, frisk, romp, cavort, caper
informal lark (about/around)
archaic or humorous disport oneself
archaic wanton
rare rollick
Phrases
in sport
make sport of
the sport of kings
Derivatives
sporter
- Grandaddy are a band of hard-core beard sporters.
- Here winter sporters and walkers come close to heaven, as generations of weekending Romans have discovered.
Origin
Late Middle English (in the sense 'pastime, entertainment'): shortening of disport.
Sport comes from a shortening of disport (Middle English), formed, via French, from Latin dis ‘away’ and portare ‘carry’ used in much the same way as the expression ‘to take someone out of themselves’. Sport meant any kind of entertainment, and only started to be used in the modern sense of physical activities with set rules in the late 18th century. The sport of kings (mid 17th century) once referred to war-making but was later applied to hunting and horse-racing.