sports

[spawrts, spohrts] /spɔrts, spoʊrts/
adjective
1.
of or pertaining to a sport or sports, especially of the open-air or athletic kind:
a sports festival.
2.
(of garments, equipment, etc.) suitable for use in open-air sports, or for outdoor or informal use.
Origin
1910-15; sport + -s3

sport

[spawrt, spohrt] /spɔrt, spoʊrt/
noun
1.
an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.
2.
a particular form of this, especially in the out of doors.
3.
diversion; recreation; pleasant pastime.
4.
jest; fun; mirth; pleasantry:
What he said in sport was taken seriously.
5.
mockery; ridicule; derision:
They made sport of him.
6.
an object of derision; laughingstock.
7.
something treated lightly or tossed about like a plaything.
8.
something or someone subject to the whims or vicissitudes of fate, circumstances, etc.
9.
a sportsman.
10.
Informal. a person who behaves in a sportsmanlike, fair, or admirable manner; an accommodating person:
He was a sport and took his defeat well.
11.
Informal. a person who is interested in sports as an occasion for gambling; gambler.
12.
Informal. a flashy person; one who wears showy clothes, affects smart manners, pursues pleasurable pastimes, or the like; a bon vivant.
13.
Biology. an organism or part that shows an unusual or singular deviation from the normal or parent type; mutation.
14.
Obsolete. amorous dalliance.
adjective
15.
of, pertaining to, or used in sports or a particular sport.
16.
suitable for outdoor or informal wear:
sport clothes.
verb (used without object)
17.
to amuse oneself with some pleasant pastime or recreation.
18.
to play, frolic, or gambol, as a child or an animal.
19.
to engage in some open-air or athletic pastime or sport.
20.
to trifle or treat lightly:
to sport with another's emotions.
21.
to mock, scoff, or tease:
to sport at suburban life.
22.
Botany. to mutate.
verb (used with object)
23.
to pass (time) in amusement or sport.
24.
to spend or squander lightly or recklessly (often followed by away).
25.
Informal. to wear, display, carry, etc., especially with ostentation; show off:
to sport a new mink coat.
26.
Archaic. to amuse (especially oneself).
Idioms
27.
sport one's oak. oak (def 5).
Origin
1350-1400; Middle English; aphetic variant of disport
Related forms
sportful, adjective
sportfully, adverb
sportfulness, noun
sportless, adjective
outsport, verb (used with object)
unsported, adjective
unsportful, adjective
Synonyms
1. game. 3. amusement, fun, entertainment. See play. 18. romp, caper. 20. toy.
Examples from the web for sports
  • Tuck in baked chips and a sports bottle with pomegranate juice.
  • It sports peachy yellow new leaves that shift to lime yellow in summer.
  • Usually working in sports shops or restaurants, these musicians live to ski or board by day and jam by night.
  • But white athletes in the highest-profile sports are struggling, according to the report.
  • The challenges facing college sports are many and various.
  • It was a tempestuous year off the field for college sports.
  • Then there are the physical demands of the sports: surfing is exhausting and occasionally life-threatening.
  • Framing also raises philosophical questions about what fans want out of sports.
  • In the race to catch drug cheats, sports officials are turning to more sophisticated tests.
  • Torn tendons, muscles and ligaments plague athletes in many types of sports.
British Dictionary definitions for sports

sports

/spɔːts/
noun
1.
(modifier) relating to, concerned with, or used in sports: sports equipment
2.
(modifier) relating to or similar to a sports car: sports seats
3.
(Brit) Also called sports day. a meeting held at a school or college for competitions in various athletic events

sport

/spɔːt/
noun
1.
an individual or group activity pursued for exercise or pleasure, often involving the testing of physical capabilities and taking the form of a competitive game such as football, tennis, etc
2.
such activities considered collectively
3.
any particular pastime indulged in for pleasure
4.
the pleasure derived from a pastime, esp hunting, shooting, or fishing: we had good sport today
5.
playful or good-humoured joking: to say a thing in sport
6.
derisive mockery or the object of such mockery: to make sport of someone
7.
someone or something that is controlled by external influences: the sport of fate
8.
(informal) sometimes qualified by good, bad, etc. a person who reacts cheerfully in the face of adversity, esp a good loser
9.
(informal) a person noted for being scrupulously fair and abiding by the rules of a game
10.
(informal) a person who leads a merry existence, esp a gambler: he's a bit of a sport
11.
(Austral & NZ, informal) a form of address used esp between males
12.
(biology)
  1. an animal or plant that differs conspicuously in one or more aspects from other organisms of the same species, usually because of a mutation
  2. an anomalous characteristic of such an organism
verb
13.
(transitive) (informal) to wear or display in an ostentatious or proud manner: she was sporting a new hat
14.
(intransitive) to skip about or frolic happily
15.
to amuse (oneself), esp in outdoor physical recreation
16.
(intransitive) often foll by with. to dally or trifle (with)
17.
(rare) (transitive) often foll by away. to squander (time or money): sporting one's life away
18.
(archaic) (intransitive) often foll by with. to make fun (of)
19.
(intransitive) (biology) to produce or undergo a mutation
See also sports
Derived Forms
sporter, noun
sportful, adjective
sportfully, adverb
sportfulness, noun
Word Origin
C15 sporten, variant of disporten to disport
Word Origin and History for sports
n.

atheltic games and contests, by 1660s, from sport (n.). Meaning "sports section of a newspaper" is 1913. Sports fan attested from 1921. Sportswear is from 1912. Sports car attested by 1914; so called for its speed and power:

I have just returned from the south of France, passing through Lyons, where I visited the [Berliet] works with my car, and was shown the new model 25 h.p. "sports" car, and was so impressed with this that I immediately ordered one on my return to London. [letter in "The Autocar," Jan. 7, 1914]

sport

v.

c.1400, "to take pleasure, to amuse oneself," from Anglo-French disport, Old French desport "pastime, recreation, pleasure," from desporter "to divert, amuse, please, play" (see disport). Sense of "to amuse oneself by active exercise in open air or taking part in some game" is from late 15c. Meaning "to wear" is from 1778. Related: Sported; sporting.

n.

mid-15c., "pleasant pastime," from sport (v.). Meaning "game involving physical exercise" first recorded 1520s. Original sense preserved in phrases such as in sport "in jest" (mid-15c.). Sense of "stylish man" is from 1861, American English, probably because they lived by gambling and betting on races. Meaning "good fellow" is attested from 1881 (e.g. be a sport, 1913). Sport as a familiar form of address to a man is from 1935, Australian English. The sport of kings was originally (1660s) war-making.

Slang definitions & phrases for sports

sport

noun
  1. Astylish and rakish man • Often used as a term of address, sometimes with an ironical tinge: What did she tell you, sport? (1923+)
  2. good sport (1920+)
verb

To wear: He sported a Day-glo necktie (1778+)