sport

Sport has many definitions, the most familiar of which is a game involving physical exertion — think tennis or hockey. Randomly, sport can also mean to wear, as in, "he looked sharp sporting a yellow sport coat."

Most of the definitions of sport involve the idea of fun, or of something being fair. Hopefully organized sports are both. A sporting chance means a player in a game has a fair chance of winning. A good sport is someone who plays fair, and wins and loses graciously. If you torture flies for sport, you do it for fun, and that's just wrong. If you make sport of your little sister's stutter, you make fun of it, and that's even worse.

Definitions of sport
  1. noun
    an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition
    synonyms: athletics
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    types:
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    funambulism, tightrope walking
    walking on a tightrope or slack rope
    rock climbing
    the sport or pastime of scaling rock masses on mountain sides (especially with the help of ropes and special equipment)
    contact sport
    a sport that necessarily involves body contact between opposing players
    field sport, outdoor sport
    a sport that is played outdoors
    gymnastic exercise, gymnastics
    a sport that involves exercises intended to display strength and balance and agility
    track and field
    participating in athletic sports performed on a running track or on the field associated with it
    skiing
    a sport in which participants must travel on skis
    aquatics, water sport
    sports that involve bodies of water
    crew, row, rowing
    the act of rowing as a sport
    archery
    the sport of shooting arrows with a bow
    sledding
    the sport of riding on a sled or sleigh
    skating
    the sport of gliding on skates
    racing
    the sport of engaging in contests of speed
    equitation, horseback riding, riding
    the sport of siting on the back of a horse while controlling its movements
    cycling
    the sport of traveling on a bicycle or motorcycle
    blood sport
    sport that involves killing animals (especially hunting)
    athletic game
    a game involving athletic activity
    judo
    a sport adapted from jujitsu (using principles of not resisting) and similar to wrestling; developed in Japan
    spectator sport
    a sport that many people find entertaining to watch
    team sport
    a sport that involves competition between teams of players
    acrobatics, tumbling
    the gymnastic moves of an acrobat
    running, track
    the act of participating in an athletic competition involving running on a track
    jumping
    the act of participating in an athletic competition in which you must jump
    cross-country skiing
    the sport of skiing across the countryside (rather than downhill)
    ski jumping
    the act of performing a jump on skis from a high ramp overhanging a snow covered slope
    swim, swimming
    the act of swimming
    surfboarding, surfing, surfriding
    the sport of riding a surfboard toward the shore on the crest of a wave
    water-skiing
    skiing on water while being towed by a motorboat
    crab
    a stroke of the oar that either misses the water or digs too deeply
    sculling
    rowing by a single oarsman in a racing shell
    boxing, fisticuffs, pugilism
    fighting with the fists
    tobogganing
    riding on a long light sled with low handrails
    bobsledding
    riding on a bobsled
    grappling, rassling, wrestling
    the sport of hand-to-hand struggle between unarmed contestants who try to throw each other down
    ice skating
    skating on ice
    roller skating
    skating on wheels
    skateboarding
    the sport of skating on a skateboard
    speed skating
    competitive skating on speed skates (usually around an oval course)
    auto racing, car racing
    the sport of racing automobiles
    boat racing
    the sport of racing boats
    camel racing
    the sport of racing camels
    greyhound racing
    the sport of racing greyhounds
    horse racing
    the sport of racing horses
    equestrian sport
    a sport that tests horsemanship
    pony-trekking
    a sport in which people ride across country on ponies
    bicycling
    riding a bicycle
    motorcycling
    riding a motorcycle
    dune cycling
    bicycling or motorcycling on sand dunes
    bullfighting, tauromachy
    the activity at a bullfight
    cockfighting
    participation in the sport of matching gamecocks in a cockfight
    hunt, hunting
    the pursuit and killing or capture of wild animals regarded as a sport
    fishing, sportfishing
    the act of someone who fishes as a diversion
    hockey, hockey game, ice hockey
    a game played on an ice rink by two opposing teams of six skaters each who try to knock a flat round puck into the opponents' goal with angled sticks
    tetherball
    a game with two players who use rackets to strike a ball that is tethered to the top of a pole; the object is to wrap the string around the pole
    water polo
    a game played in a swimming pool by two teams of swimmers who try to throw an inflated ball into the opponents' goal
    outdoor game
    an athletic game that is played outdoors
    football, football game
    any of various games played with a ball (round or oval) in which two teams try to kick or carry or propel the ball into each other's goal
    court game
    an athletic game played on a court
    type of:
    diversion, recreation
    an activity that diverts or amuses or stimulates
  2. noun
    someone who engages in sports
    synonyms: sportsman, sportswoman
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    type of:
    athlete, jock
    a person trained to compete in sports
  3. noun
    the occupation of athletes who compete for pay
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    types:
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    professional boxing
    boxing for money
    professional wrestling
    wrestling for money
    sumo
    a Japanese form of wrestling; you lose if you are forced out of a small ring or if any part of your body (other than your feet) touches the ground
    professional golf
    playing golf for money
    professional football
    football played for pay
    professional baseball
    playing baseball for money
    professional basketball
    playing basketball for money
    professional tennis
    playing tennis for money
    type of:
    business, job, line, line of work, occupation
    the principal activity in your life that you do to earn money
  4. noun
    verbal wit or mockery (often at another's expense but not to be taken seriously)
    “he said it in sport”
    synonyms: fun, play
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    types:
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    jocosity, jocularity
    fun characterized by humor
    waggery, waggishness
    waggish behavior
    clowning, comedy, drollery, funniness
    a comic incident or series of incidents
    paronomasia, pun, punning, wordplay
    a humorous play on words
    type of:
    humor, humour, wit, witticism, wittiness
    a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter
  5. noun
    a person known for the way she (or he) behaves when teased or defeated or subjected to trying circumstances
    “a good sport”
    “a poor sport”
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    type of:
    individual, mortal, person, somebody, someone, soul
    a human being
  6. noun
    (biology) an organism that has characteristics resulting from chromosomal alteration
    synonyms: mutant, mutation, variation
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    types:
    freak, lusus naturae, monster, monstrosity
    a person or animal that is markedly unusual or deformed
    leviathan
    the largest or most massive thing of its kind
    type of:
    being, organism
    a living thing that has (or can develop) the ability to act or function independently
  7. noun
    (Maine colloquial) a temporary summer resident of Maine
    synonyms: summercater
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    type of:
    vacationer, vacationist
    someone on vacation; someone who is devoting time to pleasure or relaxation rather than to work
  8. verb
    play boisterously
    synonyms: cavort, disport, frisk, frolic, gambol, lark, lark about, rollick, romp, run around, skylark
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    type of:
    play
    be at play; be engaged in playful activity; amuse oneself in a way characteristic of children
  9. verb
    wear or display in an ostentatious or proud manner
    “she was sporting a new hat”
    synonyms: boast, feature
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    type of:
    feature, have
    have as a feature
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