court tennis noun

The game of real tennis, distinguished from lawn tennis

courtˈyard noun

A court or enclosed ground attached to a building, usu a large house

court holy water (obsolete)

1. Empty compliments
2. Flattery

Court of Appeal, Arches, Exchequer, etc see under appeal, arch¹, exchequer, etc.

court of first instance

A lawcourt in which proceedings are first heard

go (or take someone) to court

To institute legal proceedings against someone

hold court

To preside over admiring followers, etc

laugh someone out of court see under laugh

out of court

1. Without a trial in a lawcourt
2. Without claim to be considered

pay court to

To woo or flatter

put (or rule) out of court

1. To prevent a case from being heard
2. To dismiss emphatically (figurative)

the ball's in your court see under ball¹

real² /rēˈəl/ (obsolete)

Royal

reˈalty noun (obsolete)

Royalty

real tennis noun

Royal tennis, the original form of the game, as opposed to lawn tennis (also court tennis)

royal /roiˈəl/

1. Of, relating to or befitting a king or queen
2. Kingly or queenly
3. Being a king or queen
4. Of a reigning family
5. Founded, chartered or patronized by a king or queen
6. Magnificent
7. Of exceptional size or quality
8. Of writing paper, 19×24in, of printing-paper, 20×25in (royal octavo a book size 61/4×10in)

1. A royal person (often in pl with the; informal)
2. A gold coin of various kinds
3. A sail immediately above the top gallant sail
4. The third (orig the second) tine of a stag
5. A stag with twelve or more points

royˈalet noun (derogatory, now rare)

A petty king or other ruler

royˈalism noun

Support of the institution of monarchy

royˈalist noun

1. (also with cap) an adherent of royalism, a monarchist
2. A cavalier during the English civil war
3. (in American history) a supporter of the British government during the American Revolution
4. (in French history) a supporter of the Bourbons

Of or relating to the royalists

royˈalize or royˈalise transitive verb (Shakespeare)

1. To make royal or (Milton) royalist
2. To give royal character, sanction or status to

To play the king

royˈally adverb

royˈalty noun

1. Sovereignty
2. The state or office of a king or queen
3. Royal or majestic character or quality
4. The person of the sovereign, majesty (Shakespeare)
5. The members of a royal family collectively or (informal) any such member
6. A queen bee, queen termite, etc
7. Sovereign rule, monarchy
8. Royal authority
9. A right or prerogative granted by a king or queen, esp a right over minerals
10. A payment made by oil companies, etc to the owners of the mineral rights in the area in which they operate
11. Payment to an author, composer, etc for every copy sold or every public performance of a particular work
12. The area of a royal domain, a realm
13. A royal burgh (Scot)

Royal Academy noun

1. An academy of fine arts in London, founded in 1768, to which members and associates are elected (in very limited number)
2. A teaching, degree-giving academy of music in London

royal assent see under assent

royal blue noun

A bright, deep-coloured blue

Royal British Legion see under legion

royal burgh see under burgh

royal commission noun

(also with caps) a body of people nominated by the Crown to inquire into and report on a particular matter

royal duke noun

A duke who is also a royal prince

royal fern noun

(Osmunda regalis) the most striking of British ferns, with large fronds

royal fish noun

A ‘fish’ that is the monarch's perquisite when cast ashore or caught near the land (whale, sturgeon, porpoise)

royal flush see under flush³

royal icing noun

A kind of hard icing made with egg white, used esp on rich fruitcakes

royal jelly noun

A secretion produced by worker bees, the food of young larvae and of a developing queen bee

royal marriage noun (bezique)

King and queen of trumps

royal mast noun (nautical)

The fourth and highest part of the mast, usu made in one piece with the top-gallant mast

royal palm noun

A palm (Oreodoxa regalis) of the cabbage palm genus

Royal Peculiar noun

An ecclesiastical peculiar whose superior is the sovereign

royal prerogative see under prerogative

royal purple noun

A deep rich purple colour

royal road noun

A short and easy way of circumventing difficulties

royal standard noun

A banner bearing the British royal arms, flown wherever the monarch is present

royal tennis noun

The earlier form of the game of tennis, distinguished from lawn tennis, and played in a walled court (also called real or court tennis)

royal warrant noun

An official authorization to supply goods to a royal household

Royal We noun

(also without caps) a monarch's use of the first person plural when speaking of himself or herself

the Royals

1. Formerly the first regiment of foot in the British Army (the Royal Scots)
2. (without cap) see n above

tennis /tenˈis/

A game played by hitting a small ball over a net with a racket, if possible in such a way as to prevent its return, usu now referring to lawn tennis, played by one or two a side on a grass, clay or hard court, but formerly to an ancient game played (orig using the palms of the hands) in a specially constructed building or enclosed court, and distinguished from lawn tennis, which was derived from it, as close tennis, court tennis, real tennis(ie genuine, original), or (in Australia from the late 19c) royal tennis

tennis elbow noun

An inflamed condition of the muscle that extends the wrist, at the point where it arises at the elbow, caused by over-exercise

short tennis see under short