INDEX:
1. physical activities in which people compete against each other
2. a particular sport or game
3. used for sport or related to sport
4. an occasion when people compete against each other in a sport
5. someone who does a sport
6. a group of people who play against another group
7. a place where you do a sport
8. the person who makes sure that players obey the rules
9. the points you get when you play a sport
10. when two teams or players have the same score
11. someone who watches a sport
RELATED WORDS
see also
↑ GAME
↑ EXERCISE
↑ COMPETITION
↑ PLAY A GAME OR SPORT
↑ WIN
↑ LOSE
↑ BEAT/DEFEAT
↑ COMPETE WITH
↑ SCORE
↑ RESULT
↑ PRACTISE/PRACTICE
↑ FIT/NOT FIT
◆◆◆
1. physical activities in which people compete against each other
▷ sport [uncountable noun] British /sports [plural noun] American /spɔːʳt, spɔːʳts/
physical activities that need effort and skill and that are usually competitive :
▪ She’s interested in cinema, music and sport.
▪ Sport has always been very important in this part of the country.
do sport
British
▪ We don’t do much sport at my school.
play sports
especially American
▪ Today’s kids need to spend less time watching television, and more time playing sports.
▷ games /geɪmz/ [plural noun] British
a period of time in school when you do organized sports activities such as football, tennis etc, usually outdoors :
▪ The boys have games on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons.
▪ Hurry up or you’ll be late for your games lesson.
▷ gym (class) also P.E. also Phys. Ed. American /ˈdʒɪm (klɑːsǁklæs), ˌpiː ˈiː, ˌfɪz ˈed/ [uncountable noun]
a period of time in school when you do organized physical activities :
▪ Sometimes in Phys. Ed. we’re allowed to go on the trampolines.
▪ How many times a week do you have P.E.?
2. a particular sport or game
▷ sport /spɔːʳt/ [countable noun]
a physical activity in which people or teams play, race etc against each other and try to win :
▪ His favourite sports are swimming and tennis.
▪ Motorcycle racing can be a dangerous sport.
play a sport
▪ Which sports do you play at school?
do a sport
▪ I think everyone should do at least one sport, in order to keep fit.
▷ game /geɪm/ [countable noun]
a sport that you play against another player or team, according to a set of rules :
▪ Rugby is a very exciting, fast-moving game.
do/play games
▪ The girls at King Edward’s play all sorts of games - basketball, hockey, tennis, to name just a few.
3. used for sport or related to sport
▷ sports /spɔːʳts/ [adjective only before noun]
▪ Is there a shop that sells sports equipment near here?
▪ Here is a list of the sports clubs in your area.
▪ Heavy rain has flooded the sports field: all fixtures have been cancelled for a month.
▷ sporting /ˈspɔːʳtɪŋ/ [adjective only before noun]
sporting activities/events/facilities etc
▪ The Italian Grand Prix is one of the great sporting events of the year.
▪ The hotel has four restaurants, a bar and a disco, as well as an impressive range of sporting facilities.
▪ Sponsorship is important for sporting activities such as golf, football, cricket and motor-racing.
4. an occasion when people compete against each other in a sport
▷ game /geɪm/ [countable noun]
an occasion when two people or two teams compete against each other in a sport :
▪ Barcelona beat Real Madrid 3-2 in a thrilling game.
▪ I got two tickets for the Bulls’ game.
▪ Who won last night’s game?
game of tennis/squash etc
▪ How about a game of tennis this evening?
basketball/football etc game
▪ Do you want to come and watch the volleyball game this Saturday?
▷ match /mætʃ/ [countable noun] especially British
an occasion when two people or two teams compete against each other in a sport :
▪ Are you going to the match tomorrow?
▪ If we win the next three matches, we could still go through to the semi-final.
a football/cricket/boxing etc match
▪ A cricket match was in progress on the school sports field.
▷ race /reɪs/ [countable noun]
a competition in which several people try to run, drive, ride, swim etc faster than each other :
▪ What time does the first race start?
▪ Hill won the race, and Schumacher finished second.
boat/car/horse etc race
▪ Her husband spent all their money gambling on horse races.
▪ the annual university boat race between Oxford and Cambridge
5. someone who does a sport
▷ player /ˈpleɪəʳ/ [countable noun]
someone who belongs to a sports team or who regularly does a sport :
▪ One of the players had been injured, and had to leave the field.
baseball/basketball etc player
▪ Kelleher was a star basketball player in high school and college.
▷ sportsman/sportswoman /ˈspɔːʳtsmən, ˈspɔːʳtsˌwʊməm/ [countable noun]
someone who is good at sport, especially someone who does it as their job :
▪ Every top sportsman needs the motivation of a fresh challenge.
▪ Today’s professional sportsmen can expect to earn enormous sums of money.
▪ Mrs Hashimoto described herself as a keen sportswoman, fond of golf, tennis and swimming.
▷ athlete /ˈæθliːt/ [countable noun]
someone who is very good at sport, especially someone who does sports such as running, throwing things, or jumping over high bars :
▪ The way he got to that ball shows what a superb athlete he is.
▪ Over 150 athletes will compete in the Indoor Championships at Gateshead International Stadium.
▪ It was discovered that three of our Olympic athletes had taken drugs.
6. a group of people who play against another group
▷ team /tiːm/ [countable noun with singular or plural verb in British English]
a group of people who play together against another group in a sport :
▪ The women’s team were beaten 6-2.
football/baseball/cricket etc team
▪ I think the Yankees are one of the coolest baseball teams around.
support a team
like it best and want it to win
▪ Which football team do you support?
be in a team British /be on a team
American
▪ If you want to be on the team, you have to turn up for regular training.
▷ side /saɪd/ [countable noun] British
one of two teams who are playing against each other :
▪ Supporters of both sides braved the cold wet weather to watch the match.
▪ Our side only needed one more goal to win.
▷ captain /ˈkæptɪn, ˈkæptən/ [countable noun]
the main player in a team, who tells the other players what to do :
▪ The captain must have given his team quite a talking-to at half time.
captain of
▪ Who’s the captain of England?
team captain
▪ Shelley’s the girls’ team captain this year.
7. a place where you do a sport
▷ field /fiːld/ [countable noun]
a large area of ground, usually covered in grass, where team sports are played :
▪ The crowd cheered as the players ran onto the field.
baseball/football/sports etc field
▪ The football field was too muddy to play on, so the game was cancelled
▪ Some open spaces north of the city will be made into sports fields for leisure activities.
playing field
▪ Several school playing fields have been sold off to raise money.
▷ pitch /pɪtʃ/ [countable noun] British
a sports field :
▪ Some of the fans rushed onto the pitch at the end of the match
cricket/football etc pitch
▪ The village has attractive playing fields, with a football and cricket pitch.
▷ court /kɔːʳt/ [countable noun]
an area with lines painted on the ground, where two people or teams play a game such as tennis or basketball :
▪ The courts are floodlit at night so that you can play all the year round.
tennis/basketball/squash etc court
▪ The new leisure complex has a sauna, jacuzzi, swimming pool and tennis courts.
▷ leisure centre/complex /ˈleʒəʳ ˌsentəʳ, ˌkɒmpleksǁˈliː-, ˌkɑːm-/ [countable noun] British
a building where you can do various different sports :
▪ The council is planning to build a multi-million pound leisure centre outside the town.
▷ gym /dʒɪm/ [countable noun]
a building where there are machines that you can use to do exercises that make you fitter and stronger, or where you can do exercise classes etc. A gym is also a large room that is built especially for sports to be played in, for example in a school or university :
▪ I’ve just signed up for an exercise class at the gym.
▪ Ed goes to the gym to do weight training several times a week.
▪ It was raining, so we had to play football in the gym this afternoon.
▷ pool/swimming pool /puːl, ˈswɪmɪŋ puːl/ [countable noun]
a place where you can swim, consisting of a large hole in the ground that has been built and filled with water, either outdoors or inside a building :
▪ The house, with its own tennis court and swimming-pool, is for sale at £700.000.
▪ There’s an open air pool at Woodstock that’s great when it’s really hot.
▪ What we want is a hotel with a big heated pool, in case it rains.
▷ stadium /ˈsteɪdiəm/ [countable noun]
a large sports field with seats all around it, where people go to watch sports :
▪ The stadium has a capacity of at least 10,000.
football/baseball/sports stadium
▪ Denver has a new airport, a new baseball stadium, and a reputation as a good place to live.
8. the person who makes sure that players obey the rules
▷ referee/umpire /ˌrefəˈriː, ˈʌmpaɪəʳ/ [countable noun]
the person who makes sure that the players obey the rules and decides if points have been won according to the rules. Use referee about football, basketball, hockey, and boxing. Use umpire about baseball, cricket, and tennis :
▪ To United’s disbelief, the referee failed to award the goal.
▪ He made no attempt to hide his disgust at the umpire’s decision, which cost him the match.
referee/umpire [intransitive/transitive verb]
▪ Who’s refereeing the match?
▷ judges /ˈdʒʌdʒɪz, ˈdʒʌdʒəz/ [plural noun]
the people who decide which person is the best in a competition such as skating, horse-riding etc, where people do not compete in teams :
▪ The judges awarded first prize to 14-year-old Amanda Colton, on her horse, Donna.
9. the points you get when you play a sport
▷ point /pɔɪnt/ [countable noun]
a unit used to show what you have achieved in a sport or game :
▪ Steve Jones is 15 points ahead.
▪ Damon Hill led the Formula 1 Championship, with 58 points from 6 races.
get/score a point
▪ We lost the game when the Giants scored 14 points in the last quarter.
▪ In darts, you get 50 points for hitting the bullseye.
▷ goal /gəʊl/ [countable noun]
the point you get when you make the ball go into the net in sports such as football or hockey :
▪ England’s only goal came midway through the second half.
score a goal
▪ Venturini has scored the first goal in each of the two US victories in the Olympics.
get a goal
▪ Spurs got two goals in the last five minutes of the game.
an own goal
when a player sends the ball into the wrong net, and so scores a point for the other team
▪ We won, but only because of an 88th minute own goal from the other side.
▷ score /skɔːʳ/ [countable noun]
the number of points that the two teams or players have in a game :
▪ What’s the score?
▪ The score at half time was 12-18.
final score
the score at the end of the game
▪ After two hours and twenty minutes of play, the final score was 3-2.
10. when two teams or players have the same score
▷ tie /draw especially British /taɪ, drɔː/ [countable noun]
when both players or teams have the same number of points at the end of a game :
▪ ‘What was the result of the Barcelona v Real Madrid game?’ ‘It was a draw.’
▪ The second game was very exciting, but it ended in a tie.
▷ be two all/be four all etc /biː ˌtuː ˈɔːl/ [verb phrase] spoken
say this when both players or teams have two points, four points etc in a game :
▪ It’s two all at the moment, but United seems to be the better team.
▪ ‘What was the final score?’ ‘One all.’
11. someone who watches a sport
▷ spectator /spekˈteɪtəʳǁˈspekteɪ-/ [countable noun]
someone who goes to a game and watches people playing a sport :
▪ I’m not playing myself, I’m just a spectator.
▪ Over 30,000 spectators turned out for the women’s basketball match against Zaire.
▷ fan /fæn/ [countable noun]
someone who likes a particular sport, or a particular team, and often goes to watch a game or watch a team play :
▪ Thousands of fans queued to buy tickets.
football/cricket/hockey etc fan
▪ Over 200 British football fans were sent home after the violence in Rimini.
United/England/Yankee etc fans
▪ Leeds fans howled in anguish as Arsenal scored another goal.
▷ supporter /səˈpɔːʳtəʳ/ [countable noun] British
someone who likes a particular sport or team and often goes to watch a game or watch a team play - use this especially about football :
▪ Several supporters were arrested outside the stadium.
▪ The town was full of football supporters, waiting for the big day.
Milan/Liverpool etc supporter
▪ Milan supporters cheered as they scored their first goal in two games.
support [transitive verb]
to like a particular team and want it to win :
▪ ‘Which team do you support?’ ‘Oh, Manchester United, of course!’