Word.ws English Dictionary

change the game

UK/ˈt͡ʃeɪn(d͡)ʒ ðə ˈɡeɪm//ˈt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒ ðə ˈɡeɪm/

change the game verb: to revolutionize a field of endeavor.

Verb

change the game (third-person singular simple present changes the game, present participle changing the game, simple past and past participle changed the game)

  1. (idiomatic, transitive) To revolutionize a field of endeavor.
    • Today, Moore is in transition from a communications-product company to an information-management company, selling information-management systems— […] How has this changed the game for Moore salespeople?1988, Larry Wilson, Hersch Wilson, “The Rules of the New Game”, in Changing the Game: The New Way to Sell (Fireside Book), New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, part I (The Changing Game of...
    • Brave and resourceful, creative and effective, will be the hallmarks of the transformative CEO. For the transformative CEO has no choice but to change the game, and to change the game forever.2012, Jeffrey J. Fox, Robert Reiss, quoting Arkadi Kuhlmann, “On Transformative CEOs”, in The Transformative CEO: Impact Lessons from Industry Game Changers, New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill Companies...

Forms of change the game

third-person singular presentchanges the game
present participlechanging the game
past participlechanged the game
pastchanged the game

Origin of change the game

Probably from the ability of a player of a team sport who has been brought on to the field as substitute to alter the outcome of the game.

Questions about change the game

What does change the game mean?
Change the game means to revolutionize a field of endeavor.
What part of speech is change the game?
Change the game is a verb.
How do you pronounce change the game?
Change the game is pronounced /ˈt͡ʃeɪn(d͡)ʒ ðə ˈɡeɪm/ (UK).
What is the past tense of change the game?
The past tense of change the game is changed the game.

Words near change the game in the dictionary

  1. change table
  2. change tables
  3. change tack
  4. change tact
  5. change the channel
  6. change the game
  7. change the leg
  8. change the record
  9. change the subject
  10. change up
  11. change wheel

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: change the game (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-change the game.flac, en-au-change the game.ogg.

Cite this entry: “change the game.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/change_the_game. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.