sport
UK/spɔːt/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Australia/spoːt/
sport noun: any activity that uses physical exertion or skills competitively under a set of rules that is not based on aesthetics.
Noun
sport (countable and uncountable, plural sports)
- Any activity that uses physical exertion or skills competitively under a set of rules that is not based on aesthetics.
- Basketball is her favorite sport, and she also enjoys various other sports as well.
- Sport can be an excellent form of exercise because the competition and sense of achievement can help with both motivation and pleasure.
- A person who exhibits either good or bad sportsmanship.
- Jen may have won, but she was sure a poor sport; she laughed at the loser.
- The loser was a good sport, and congratulated Jen on her performance.
- Somebody who behaves or reacts in an admirably good-natured manner, e.g. to being teased or to losing a game; a good sport.
- You're such a sport! You never get upset when we tease you.
- Something fun, pastime; amusement.
- Think it but a minute spent in sport.1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- Her sports were such as carried riches of knowledge upon the stream of delight.c. 1580 (date written), Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “[The Thirde Booke] Chapter 21”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New...
- Mockery, making fun; derision.
- Why then make ſport at me, then let me be your ieſtc. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- A toy; a plaything; an object of mockery.
- flitting leaves, the sport of every wind1697, Virgil, “The Sixth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
- Never does man appear to greater disadvantage than when he is the sport of his own ungoverned passions.a. 1676, John Clarke, On Governing the Temper
- Gaming for money as in racing, hunting, or fishing.
- A plant or an animal, or part of a plant or animal, which has some peculiarity not usually seen in the species; an abnormal variety or growth. The term encompasses both mutants and organisms with non-genetic developmental abnormalities such as birth defects.
- We never shot another like it, so I do not know if it was a `sport' or a distinct species.1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC
- At Hortus Bulborum you will find heirloom narcissi that date back at least to the 15th century and famous old tulips like 'Duc van Tol' (1595) and its sports.2014 September 26, Charles Quest-Ritson, “The Dutch garden where tulip bulbs live forever: Hortus Bulborum, a volunteer-run Dutch garden, is dedicated to conserving historic varieties before they...
- A sportsman; a gambler.
- See my dressed like all the sports/In my blazer and a pair of shorts.1937 January 24, “With My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock”performed by George Formby
- One who consorts with disreputable people, including prostitutes.
- An amorous dalliance.
- A friend or acquaintance (chiefly used when speaking to the friend in question)
- "Say, sport!" he would say briskly.1924 July, Ellis Butler, “The Little Tin Godlets”, in The Rotarian, volume 25, number 1, Rotary International, page 14
- Term of endearment used by an adult for a child, usually a boy.
- Hey, sport! You've gotten so big since I saw you last! Give me five.
- Tie me kangaroo down, sport/Tie me kangaroo down/Tie me kangaroo down, sport/Tie me kangaroo down.1960 January 1, “Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport”performed by Rolf Harris
- Play; idle jingle.
- An author who should introduce such a sport of words upon our stage […] would meet with small applause.1725-1726, William Broome, The Odyssey
Verb
sport (third-person singular simple present sports, present participle sporting, simple past and past participle sported)
- To amuse oneself, to play.
- children sporting on the green
- To mock or tease, treat lightly, toy with.
- Jen sports with Bill's emotions.
- He sports with his own life.1663, John Tillotson, The Wisdom of being Religious
- To display; to have as a notable feature.
- Jen's sporting a new pair of shoes; he was sporting a new wound from the combat
- But despite its plague of tunnels, the run-in on this route is of unusual interest to the locomotive enthusiast: besides the hordes of self-important saddle-tanks shunting in the extensive yards, there was at one time the chance of seeing those slender little North London engines, with their large...1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in Railway Magazine, page 704
- To divert; to amuse; to make merry.
- Against whom do ye sport yourselves?1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 57:4
- To represent by any kind of play.
- Now sporting on thy lyre the loves of youth.1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Sixth Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […]...
- To practise the diversions of the field or the turf; to be given to betting, as upon races.
- To assume suddenly a new and different character from the rest of the plant or from the type of the species; said of a bud, shoot, plant, or animal.
- more than one kind of rose has sported into a moss1860, Charles Darwin, The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication
- To close (a door).
- There he locked it up in a drawer, sported the doors of both sets of rooms, and retired to bed.1904, M. R. James, The Mezzotint
Proper noun capitalized: SPORT
SPORT
- Acronym of Strategic Partnership On REACH Testing.
sport meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
sport in Hindi
- any athletic activity that uses physical skills
- वर्ज़िश varziś, खेल khel, खेल-कूद khel-kūd, स्पोर्ट sporṭ
sport in Tamil
- any athletic activity that uses physical skills
- விளையாட்டு viḷaiyāṭṭu
sport in Marathi
- any athletic activity that uses physical skills
- खेळ kheḷ
sport in Urdu
- any athletic activity that uses physical skills
- وَرْزِش varziś, کھیل khel, سْپورْٹ sporṭ
More languagesFewer languages
- sport in Bengali
- ক্রীড়া kriṛa, খেল khel
- sport in Telugu
- ఆటలు āṭalu
- sport in Malayalam
- കായികവിനോദം kāyikavinōdaṁ, ക്രീഡ krīḍa
- sport in Kannada
- ಕ್ರೀಡೆಗಳು krīḍegaḷu
- sport in Punjabi
- ਖੇਡ kheḍ
- sport in Gujarati
- રમતગમત ramtagmat, ખેલ khel
- sport in Odia
- ଖେଳ kheḷa, କ୍ରୀଡା kriḍā
- sport in Sanskrit
- क्रीडा krīḍā
- sport in Sinhala
- ක්රීඩා krīḍā
- sport in Assamese
- ক্ৰীড়া krira, খেল khel
- sport in Nepali
- खेल khel
- sport in Pashto
- ورزش warzᶕš, سپورټ sporṭ
- sport in Tagalog
- palakasan
- sport in Arabic
- رِيَاضَة riyāḍa, ذو روح رياضية Thu rouh riyadhiyya, خلوق kha-louq
- sport in Malay
- sukan
- sport in Indonesian
- olahraga
- sport in Persian
- وَرْزِش warziš, سرگرمی, ورزش
- sport in Thai
- กีฬา gii-laa, สปอร์ต sà-bpɔ̀ɔt
- sport in Vietnamese
- thể thao
- sport in Myanmar
- အားကစား a:ka.ca:
Examples of sport in a sentence
- The little dog laughed to see such sport, and the dish ran away with the spoon.a. 1765, year of origin unknown, Hey Diddle Diddle (traditional rhyme)
- [The researchers] noticed many of their pieces of [plastic marine] debris sported surface pits around two microns across.2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
- He was especially happy to see one of the most important discoveries make it to the screen: dinosaurs that sported feathers.2023 June 3, Carl Zimmer, “How Did Birds First Take Off?”, in The New York Times:
Synonyms of sport
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of sport
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | sports |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | sports |
| present participle | sporting |
| past participle | sported |
| past | sported |
Origin of sport
From Middle English sporten (“to divert, disport”, verb) and sport, spoort, sporte (noun), apheretic shortenings of disporten (verb) and disport, disporte (noun), from Old French desporter (“to divert, amuse, please, play; to seek amusement”), etymologically meaning "to carry away (the mind from serious matters)," from des- + porter, from Latin dis- + Latin portāre, ultimately from Latin deportāre, from de- + portāre, from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to lead, pass over”)). Replaced native English laik, lake (“sport, fun, amusement”), and Middle English spile, spyl (“fun, sport, play”). More at disport. Doublet of disport and deport.
Words formed from sport
- action sport
- adrenaline sport
- adventure sport
- adventurous sport
- air sport
- antisport
- ask me one about sport
- ask me one on sport
- autosport
- bad sport
- blood sport
- boardsport
- cardiosport
- combat sport
- contact sport
- cue sport
- cuesport
- cybersport
- cycle sport
- dancesport
- demonstration sport
- disability sport
- disabled sport
- electronic sport
- eSport
- e-sport
- e-sports
- extreme sport
- fantasy sports
- field sport
- flying sport
- for sport
- good sport
- gravity sport
- hardsport
- individual sport
- junk sport
- locksport
- LudoSport
- make-sport
- make sport of
- mar-sport
- mind sport
- motorbike sport
- motorcycle sport
- motorsport
- multi-sport
- multisport
- national sports team
- nonsport
- old sport
- outsport
- paddlesport
- para-sport
- parasport
- poor sport
- powersport
- professional sport
- pseudosport
- racket sport
Phrases with sport
- sport ute
- Loch Sport
- sport away
- sport bike
- sport coat
- sport fish
- sport mode
- sport utes
- team sport
- sport bikes
- sport coats
- sport diver
29 more phrasesFewer phrases
- sport modes
- sport truck
- trash sport
- water sport
- roller sport
- sport diving
- sport fishes
- sport jacket
- sport pepper
- sport timber
- sport trucks
- winter sport
- made sport of
- sport bowling
- sport climber
- sport jackets
- sport peppers
- sport the oak
- makes sport of
- sport climbing
- sport of kings
- sport stacking
- making sport of
- spectator sport
- sport of nature
- sport one's oak
- sport acrobatics
- sport utility vehicle
- sport utility vehicles
Words that rhyme with sport
44 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- mort
- assort
- escort
- fort
- quart
- resort
- retort
- thwart
- wart
- cavort
- comport
- detort
- distort
- extort
- swart
- transport
- apport
- come short
- consort
- contort
- desport
- ort
- purport
- reimport
- tort
- accourt
- aport
- asnort
- asport
- bort
- coreport
- Crown Court
- dort
- exhort
- Isle aux Morts
- kangaroo court
- misreport
- reexport
- rereport
- rort
- skort
- spoilsport
- torte
- worrywart
Questions about sport
- What does sport mean?
- Sport means any activity that uses physical exertion or skills competitively under a set of rules that is not based on aesthetics.
- What is sport in Hindi?
- Sport in Hindi is वर्ज़िश (varziś), खेल (khel), खेल-कूद (khel-kūd). See Sport meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use sport in a sentence?
- The little dog laughed to see such sport, and the dish ran away with the spoon.
- What part of speech is sport?
- Sport can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce sport?
- Sport is pronounced /spɔːt/ (UK).
- What is the plural of sport?
- The plural of sport is sports.
Words near sport in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: sport (page history and authors); SPORT (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-sport.ogg.
Cite this entry: “sport.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sport. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.