/ geɪm; NAmE / noun , adjective
■ noun
ACTIVITY / SPORT
1.
[ C ] an activity or a sport with rules in which people or teams compete against each other :
card games
board games
a game of chance / skill
ball games , such as football or tennis
( NAmE )
We're going to the ball game (= baseball game) .
—see also war game
2.
[ C ] an occasion of playing a game :
to play a game of chess
Saturday's League game against Swansea
Let's have a game of table tennis.
They're in training for the big game.
3.
[ sing. ] sb's ~ the way in which sb plays a game :
Hendry raised his game to collect the £40 000 first prize.
Stretching exercises can help you avoid injury and improve your game.
SPORTS
4.
games [ pl. ] ( old-fashioned , BrE ) sport as a lesson or an activity at school :
I always hated games at school.
5.
games [ pl. ] a large organized sports event :
the Olympic Games
PART OF SPORTS MATCH
6.
[ C ] a section of some games, such as tennis , which forms a unit in scoring :
two games all (= both players have won two games)
CHILDREN'S ACTIVITY
7.
[ C ] a children's activity when they play with toys, pretend to be sb else, etc. :
a game of cops and robbers
➡ note at interest
FUN
8.
[ C ] an activity that you do to have fun :
He was playing games with the dog.
➡ note at interest
ACTIVITY, BUSINESS
9.
[ C ] a type of activity or business :
How long have you been in this game?
the game of politics
I'm new to this game myself.
Getting dirty was all part of the game to the kids.
—see also waiting game
SECRET PLAN
10.
[ C ] ( informal ) a secret and clever plan; a trick :
So that's his game (= now I know what he has been planning) .
WILD ANIMALS / BIRDS
11.
[ U ] wild animals or birds that people hunt for sport or food
—see also big game , fair game
•
IDIOMS
- be a game
- be on the game
- the game is up
- game on
- give the game away
- the only game in town
- play the game
- play sb's game
- play (silly) games (with sb)
- two can play at that game
- what's sb's / your game?
—more at beat verb , cat , fun noun , mug noun , name noun , number noun , rule noun , worth adjective
■ adjective
game (for sth / to do sth) ready and willing to do sth new, difficult or dangerous :
She's game for anything.
We need a volunteer for this exercise. Who's game to try?
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English gamen amusement, fun , gamenian play, amuse oneself , of Germanic origin.