an association of people with a common interest or who jointly engage in a particular activity, usu one that holds periodic meetings
an association of people that has premises available for members to stay, eat, or socialize
the meeting place or premises of a club
a group of people who agree to make regular payments or purchases in order to secure some advantage
a book club
= nightclub
a heavy stick thicker at one end than the other and used as a hand weapon
in golf and other games, a stick or bat used to hit a ball
a playing card marked with one or more black figures in the shape of a clover leaf
(in pl, but treated as sing. or pl) the suit comprising cards identified by this figure
in the club
informal said of a woman: pregnant
Middle English clubbe from Old Norse klubba; (sense 6) translation of Spanish basto or Italian baston, from the figure of a stick on Spanish and Italian cards. The relationship between the meanings ‘heavy stick’ and ‘association of people’ is not altogether clear. The latter meaning arose in the mid-17th cent., perhaps from the verb club in the senses ‘to gather into a club-like mass’ or ‘to collect together’