club1
/klʌb
/noun
1 [treated as singular or plural] An association dedicated to a particular interest or activity: I belong to a photographic club [as modifier]: the club secretary...
- She began the year eating lunch alone in the library, and put aside any interest in school clubs and activities.
- To establish special interest groups and clubs to meet the needs of the young people.
- The hotel offers free swimming for children and other special discounts on club activities.
1.1The premises used by a particular club: a jazz club a social club...
- And pubs, clubs and other licensed premises were gearing up for the new era of drinking, with the launch of the new, more flexible licensing laws.
- After a gourmet meal overlooking the Adriatic, the couple can take a short walk and visit one of the many wine bars, jazz clubs or outdoor theatres the city has to offer.
- It will make it an offence to light up in a pub, bar, club or restaurant and offenders could be fined.
1.2An organization offering members social amenities, meals, and temporary residence: we had dinner at his club...
- It could also force change on social clubs and other organisations which insist that male members wear ties.
- The first members of these clubs were military officers, landowners, and professional and business men.
1.3 [usually with modifier] A commercial organization offering members special benefits: a shopping club...
- Becoming a member of an investment club would benefit her greatly.
- There is also the threat of a competition across the area from commercial health and fitness clubs.
- Car club members pay a monthly subscription and then hire by the hour for less than usual car hire rates.
1.4 [with adjective or noun modifier] A group of people or nations having something in common: the wild man of the movies refused to join the teetotal club...
- Poland was finally confirmed as one of the new club of European nations.
- How many nations need to join the nuclear club before we need a newer, nastier Deadliest Weapon In The Universe?
2 [treated as singular or plural] An organization constituted to play matches in a particular sport: a football club...
- Yes we do have a problem with a minority of fans at away games, but so does every football club in the country.
- He is a great player and captain for both club and country and that is why I have put him in my dream team.
- Although he has played some club matches, this will be his initial first-class game.
Synonyms
team, squad, side, group, line-up
3A nightclub playing fashionable dance music: [as modifier]: the club scene...
- He was in his early 20s when he became a DJ and began to play at clubs and night spots throughout the region.
- This collection features only the songs that created the disco scene in the clubs of early 1970s New York.
- Live music thumps out of the bars and clubs, a music scene that has produced artists as varied as The Undertones and Dana.
Synonyms
nightclub, night spot, disco, discotheque, cabaret club, supper club, bar
informal hot spot, nite club, niterie
verb (clubs, clubbing, clubbed) [no object]
1 (club together) British Combine with others so as to collect a sum of money for a particular purpose: friends and colleagues clubbed together to buy him a present...
- The scheme encourages residents to club together to raise money to install gates at the entrance of alleyways.
- Many retailers are giving a discount on six or more bottles, so it also makes economic sense to club together with friends or family.
- I often encourage them to club together to buy a particular wine if they want to taste it.
Synonyms
pool resources, make a kitty, join forces, make a joint contribution, divide/share costs;
team up, join up, band together, come together, get together, pull together, collaborate, ally
informal have a whip-round, chip in
2 informal Go out to nightclubs: she enjoys going clubbing in Oxford...
- On the weekends she was likely to be hanging out with her friends, going clubbing at a nightclub or to a rock concert.
- I've always found going clubbing mildly ridiculous, which probably added to the novelty of last night's outing.
- Her new life, sharing digs with fellow models and going clubbing for the first time in her life, was a shock.
Phrases
in the club (or the pudding club)
join the club
Derivatives
clubber
/ noun informalsense 2 of the verb. ...- They have created a no-go area for traffic around the club to minimise the chances of clubbers being knocked down by cars and to stop illegal taxi touts.
- Detectives are now keen to trace clubbers from the party.
- Once this music inspired dance-floor euphoria, whipped crowds of clubbers into arm-waving frenzies.
Origin
Early 17th century (as a verb): formed obscurely from club2.
In the sense ‘a heavy stick with a thick end’ club comes from Old Norse clubba, and is related to clump (Middle English). The use of the word to refer to a society or association of people who share a particular interest dates from the early 17th century. It appears to have derived gradually from the idea of a group of people forming into a mass like the thick end of a club.
Rhymes
club2
/klʌb/noun
1A heavy stick with a thick end, used as a weapon: they beat him with a wooden club...
- They also make their own canoes as well as fishing and hunting implements such as spears, clubs, blow guns, arrows, and darts.
- Many of the arms were ‘low-tech weapons’ like studded clubs, knives and spears.
- The security forces unleashed an immense barrage of teargas as well as using water cannon and clubs.
Synonyms
cudgel, truncheon, bludgeon, baton, stick, mace, staff, bat;
North American blackjack, billy, billy club, nightstick;
in Ireland shillelagh;
Indian lathi, danda;
South African kierie, knobkerrie
British informal cosh, life preserver
1.1 short for golf club.Without some good common sense and a notion of how hard golf balls and clubs are, a golf course can be a very dangerous place....
- He was so tired after holing the winning putt and putting the clubs away that they were not brought out again until Tuesday.
- Aim at a spot an inch or two behind the ball, take an upright backswing and drop the club on that spot.
2 (clubs) One of the four suits in a conventional pack of playing cards, denoted by a black trefoil.The card much to her disappointment was the mere four of clubs....
- The four of clubs is described by some as the Devil's bedstead and is loathed by many players, who claim that no good hand can include this card.
- In other words, it is of the club suit and outranked by all other clubs.
2.1A card of such a suit.If the turned up card is a club, then clubs are automatically trump....
- Since player one now realizes that the other's card is not a club, he turns over all cards that aren't clubs.
- Suppose its late in the game, and you have a lot of trumps, and 2 medium-to-high ranking clubs.
verb (clubs, clubbing, clubbed) [with object]
Beat (a person or animal) with a club or similar implement: the islanders clubbed whales to death...
- It appears that after Cook was wounded in the back, islanders clubbed him to death.
- But if the police clubbed this guy to death, I was determined to run into the alley and stop the violence.
- She recalls seeing a kind looking elderly gentleman being clubbed to death by someone she recognized.
Synonyms
cudgel, bludgeon, bash, beat/strike with a stick;
hit, strike, beat, beat up, batter, belabour
informal clout, clobber
British informal cosh
informal, dated baste
Origin
Middle English: from Old Norse clubba, variant of klumba; related to clump.