Adjacent Words

Game definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

GAME, n.
1. Sport of any kind.
2. Jest; opposed to earnest; as, betwixt earnest and game. [Not used.]
3. An exercise or play for amusement or winning a stake; as a game of cricket; a game of chess; a game of whist. Some games depend on skill; others on hazard.
4. A single match at play.
5. Advantage in play; as, to play the game into another's hand.
6. Scheme pursued; measures planned.
This seems to be the present game of that crown.
7. Field sports; the chase, falconry, etc.
8. Animals pursued or taken in the chase, or in the sports of the field; animals appropriated in England to legal sportsmen; as deer, hares, etc.
9. In antiquity, games were public diversions or contests exhibited as spectacles for the gratification of the people. These games consisted of running, leaping, wrestling, riding, etc. Such were the Olympic games, the Pythian, the Isthmian, the Nemean, _c, among the Greeks; and among the Romans, the Apollinarian, the Circensian, the Capitoline, etc.
10. Mockery; sport; derision; as, to make game of a person.
GAME, v.i. To play at any sport or diversion.
1. To play for a stake or prize; to use cards, dice, billiards or other instruments, according to certain rules, with a view to win money or other thing waged upon the issue of the contest.
2. To practice gaming.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: disabled in the feet or legs; "a crippled soldier"; "a game leg" [syn: crippled, halt, halting, lame, gimpy, game]
2: willing to face danger [syn: game, gamy, gamey, gritty, mettlesome, spirited, spunky] n
1: a contest with rules to determine a winner; "you need four people to play this game"
2: a single play of a sport or other contest; "the game lasted two hours"
3: an amusement or pastime; "they played word games"; "he thought of his painting as a game that filled his empty time"; "his life was all fun and games"
4: animal hunted for food or sport
5: (tennis) a division of play during which one player serves
6: (games) the score at a particular point or the score needed to win; "the game is 6 all"; "he is serving for the game"
7: the flesh of wild animals that is used for food
8: a secret scheme to do something (especially something underhand or illegal); "they concocted a plot to discredit the governor"; "I saw through his little game from the start" [syn: plot, secret plan, game]
9: the game equipment needed in order to play a particular game; "the child received several games for his birthday"
10: your occupation or line of work; "he's in the plumbing game"; "she's in show biz" [syn: game, biz]
11: frivolous or trifling behavior; "for actors, memorizing lines is no game"; "for him, life is all fun and games" v
1: place a bet on; "Which horse are you backing?"; "I'm betting on the new horse" [syn: bet on, back, gage, stake, game, punt]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English gamen; akin to Old High German gaman amusement Date: before 12th century 1. a. (1) activity engaged in for diversion or amusement ; play (2) the equipment for a game b. often derisive or mocking jesting ; fun, sport <make game of a nervous player> 2. a. a procedure or strategy for gaining an end ; tactic b. an illegal or shady scheme or maneuver ; racket 3. a. (1) a physical or mental competition conducted according to rules with the participants in direct opposition to each other (2) a division of a larger contest (3) the number of points necessary to win (4) points scored in certain card games (as in all fours) by a player whose cards count up the highest (5) the manner of playing in a contest (6) the set of rules governing a game (7) a particular aspect or phase of play in a game or sport <a football team's kicking game> b. plural organized athletics c. (1) a field of gainful activity ; line <the newspaper game> (2) any activity undertaken or regarded as a contest involving rivalry, strategy, or struggle <the dating game> <the game of politics>; also the course or period of such an activity <got into aviation early in the game> (3) area of expertise ; specialty 3 <comedy is not my game> 4. a. (1) animals under pursuit or taken in hunting; especially wild animals hunted for sport or food (2) the flesh of game animals b. archaic pluck c. a target or object especially of ridicule or attack — often used in the phrase fair game Synonyms: see fun • gamelike adjective II. verb (gamed; gaming) Date: 1512 intransitive verb to play for a stake transitive verb 1. archaic to lose or squander by gambling 2. to take dishonest advantage of ; cheat <game the tax system> III. adjective Date: 1610 1. a. having or showing a resolute unyielding spirit <game to the end> b. willing or ready to proceed <were game for anything> 2. of or relating to game <game laws> • gamely adverb • gameness noun IV. adjective Etymology: origin unknown Date: circa 1787 lame <a game leg>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n., adj., & v. --n. 1 a form or spell of play or sport, esp. a competitive one played according to rules and decided by skill, strength, or luck. 2 a single portion of play forming a scoring unit in some contests, e.g. bridge or tennis. 3 (in pl.) a athletics or sports as organized in a school etc. b a meeting for athletic etc. contests (Olympic Games). 4 a winning score in a game; the state of the score in a game (the game is two all). 5 the equipment for a game. 6 one's level of achievement in a game, as specified (played a good game). 7 a a piece of fun; a jest (was only playing a game with you). b (in pl.) dodges, tricks (none of your games!). 8 a scheme or undertaking etc. regarded as a game (so that's your game). 9 a policy or line of action. 10 (collect.) a wild animals or birds hunted for sport or food. b the flesh of these. 11 a hunted animal; a quarry or object of pursuit or attack. 12 a kept flock of swans. --adj. 1 spirited; eager and willing. 2 (foll. by for, or to + infin.) having the spirit or energy; eagerly prepared. --v.intr. play at games of chance for money; gamble. Phrases and idioms: the game is up the scheme is revealed or foiled. game plan esp. US 1 a winning strategy worked out in advance for a particular match. 2 a plan of campaign, esp. in politics. game point Tennis etc. a point which, if won, would win the game. game (or games) theory the mathematical analysis of conflict in war, economics, games of skill, etc. game-warden an official locally supervising game and hunting. gaming-house a place frequented for gambling; a casino. gaming-table a table used for gambling. make game (or a game) of mock, taunt. off (or on) one's game playing badly (or well). on the game Brit. sl. involved in prostitution or thieving. play the game behave fairly or according to the rules. Derivatives: gamely adv. gameness n. gamester n. Etymology: OE gamen 2. adj. (of a leg, arm, etc.) lame, crippled. Etymology: 18th-c. dial.: orig. unkn.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Game Game, a. 1. Having a resolute, unyielding spirit, like the gamecock; ready to fight to the last; plucky. I was game . . . .I felt that I could have fought even to the death. --W. Irving. 2. Of or pertaining to such animals as are hunted for game, or to the act or practice of hunting. Game bag, a sportsman's bag for carrying small game captured; also, the whole quantity of game taken. Game bird, any bird commonly shot for food, esp. grouse, partridges, quails, pheasants, wild turkeys, and the shore or wading birds, such as plovers, snipe, woodcock, curlew, and sandpipers. The term is sometimes arbitrarily restricted to birds hunted by sportsmen, with dogs and guns. Game egg, an egg producing a gamecock. Game laws, laws regulating the seasons and manner of taking game for food or for sport. Game preserver, a land owner who regulates the killing of game on his estate with a view to its increase. [Eng.] To be game. (a) To show a brave, unyielding spirit. (b) To be victor in a game. [Colloq.] To die game, to maintain a bold, unyielding spirit to the last; to die fighting.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Game Game, a. [Cf. W. cam crooked, and E. gambol, n.] Crooked; lame; as, a game leg. [Colloq.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Game Game, n. [OE. game, gamen, AS. gamen, gomen, play, sport; akin to OS., OHG., & Icel. gaman, Dan. gammen mirth, merriment, OSw. gamman joy. Cf. Gammon a game, Backgammon, Gamble v. i.] 1. Sport of any kind; jest, frolic. We have had pastimes here, and pleasant game. --Shak. 2. A contest, physical or mental, according to certain rules, for amusement, recreation, or for winning a stake; as, a game of chance; games of skill; field games, etc. But war's a game, which, were their subject wise, Kings would not play at. --Cowper. Note: Among the ancients, especially the Greeks and Romans, there were regularly recurring public exhibitions of strength, agility, and skill under the patronage of the government, usually accompanied with religious ceremonies. Such were the Olympic, the Pythian, the Nemean, and the Isthmian games. 3. The use or practice of such a game; a single match at play; a single contest; as, a game at cards. Talk the game o'er between the deal. --Lloyd. 4. That which is gained, as the stake in a game; also, the number of points necessary to be scored in order to win a game; as, in short whist five points are game. 5. (Card Playing) In some games, a point credited on the score to the player whose cards counts up the highest. 6. A scheme or art employed in the pursuit of an object or purpose; method of procedure; projected line of operations; plan; project. Your murderous game is nearly up. --Blackw. Mag. It was obviously Lord Macaulay's game to blacken the greatest literary champion of the cause he had set himself to attack. --Saintsbury. 7. Animals pursued and taken by sportsmen; wild meats designed for, or served at, table. Those species of animals . . . distinguished from the rest by the well-known appellation of game. --Blackstone. Confidence game. See under Confidence. To make game of, to make sport of; to mock. --Milton.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Game Game (g[=a]m), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Gamed (g[=a]md); p. pr. & vb. n. Gaming.] [OE. gamen, game?en, to rejoice, AS. gamenian to play. See Game, n.] 1. To rejoice; to be pleased; -- often used, in Old English, impersonally with dative. [Obs.] God loved he best with all his whole hearte At alle times, though him gamed or smarte. --Chaucer. 2. To play at any sport or diversion. 3. To play for a stake or prize; to use cards, dice, billiards, or other instruments, according to certain rules, with a view to win money or other thing waged upon the issue of the contest; to gamble.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(games) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. A game is an activity or sport usually involving skill, knowledge, or chance, in which you follow fixed rules and try to win against an opponent or to solve a puzzle. ...the wonderful game of football. ...a playful game of hide-and-seek. ...a video game. N-COUNT 2. A game is one particular occasion on which a game is played. It was the first game of the season... He regularly watched our games from the stands... We won three games against Australia. = match N-COUNT 3. A game is a part of a match, for example in tennis or bridge, consisting of a fixed number of points. She won six games to love in the second set. ...the last three points of the second game. N-COUNT 4. Games are an organized event in which competitions in several sports take place. ...the 2000 Olympic Games at Sydney. N-PLURAL 5. Games are organized sports activities that children do at school. (BRIT) At his grammar school he is remembered for being bad at games but good in debates. = sport N-PLURAL 6. Someone's game is the degree of skill or the style that they use when playing a particular game. Once I was through the first set my game picked up. N-SING: usu poss N 7. You can describe a situation that you do not treat seriously as a game. Many people regard life as a game: you win some, you lose some... N-COUNT 8. You can use game to describe a way of behaving in which a person uses a particular plan, usually in order to gain an advantage for himself or herself. Until now, the Americans have been playing a very delicate political game. N-COUNT: usu with supp 9. Wild animals or birds that are hunted for sport and sometimes cooked and eaten are referred to as game. ...men who shot game for food. N-UNCOUNT 10. If you are game for something, you are willing to do something new, unusual, or risky. After all this time he still had new ideas and was game to try them... He said he's game for a similar challenge next year. ADJ: v-link ADJ, oft ADJ to-inf, ADJ for n 11. see also gamely 12. If someone or something gives the game away, they reveal a secret or reveal their feelings, and this puts them at a disadvantage. The faces of the two conspirators gave the game away. PHRASE: V inflects 13. If you are new to a particular game, you have not done a particular activity or been in a particular situation before. Don't forget that she's new to this game and will take a while to complete the task. PHRASE: v-link PHR 14. If you beat someone at their own game, you use the same methods that they have used, but more successfully, so that you gain an advantage over them. He must anticipate the maneuvers of the other lawyers and beat them at their own game... The police knew that to trap the killer they had to play him at his own game. PHRASE: PHR after v 15. If you say that someone is playing games or playing silly games, you mean that they are not treating a situation seriously and you are annoyed with them. 'Don't play games with me' he thundered... From what I know of him he doesn't play silly games. PHRASE: V inflects [disapproval] 16. If you say that someone has raised their game, you mean that they have begun to perform better, usually because they were under pressure to do so. The world No. 9 had to raise his game to see off a strong challenge from Dale... As it expands its services around the continent, the competition it offers should force the other airlines to raise their game. PHRASE 17. If you say the game is up, you mean that someone's secret plans or activities have been revealed and therefore must stop because they cannot succeed. Some thought they would hold out until Sunday. The realists knew that the game was already up. PHRASE: V inflects

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Sport, play, amusement, pastime. 2. Plan, scheme, stratagem, bit of strategy, enterprise, adventure, undertaking, measure. 3. Animals of the chase. 4. Quarry, prey. II. a. 1. Courageous, brave, resolute, unflinching, fearless, valorous, dauntless, intrepid, gallant, heroic. 2. Made of game, of game. III. v. n. Gamble, play for money or stakes, practise gaming or gambling, be addicted to play.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

Any mode of robbing. The toby is now a queer game; to rob on the highway is now a bad mode of acting. This observation is frequently made by thieves; the roads being now so well guarded by the horse patrole; and gentlemen travel with little cash in their pockets.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

Bubbles or pigeons drawn in to be cheated. Also, at bawdy-houses, lewd women. Mother have you any game; mother, have you any girls? To die game; to suffer at the gallows without shewing any signs of fear or repentance. Game pullet; a young whore, or forward girl in the way of becoming one.

Moby Thesaurus

Animalia, Boston, Byzantine intrigues, Earl of Coventry, Monopoly, Olympic games, Olympics, Ping-Pong, Pit, Polish bank, Rugby, Russian bank, Scrabble, acquiescent, action, adventurous, agreeable, aim, alacritous, all fours, amenable, amusement, and fish, animal kingdom, animal life, animality, approach, archery, ardent, arrangement, art, artful dodge, artifice, aspic, association football, attack, baccarat, backgammon, backstairs influence, bad, badminton, bagatelle, ball, bandy, banker, barbecue, baseball, basketball, battledore and shuttlecock, beano, beasts, beasts of field, beasts of prey, beasts of venery, bet, big game, big time, billiards, bingo, birds, blackjack, blind, blueprint, blueprinting, bluff, boiled meat, bold, bouilli, bout, bowling, bowls, boxing, brag, brave, bridge, brute creation, bulldoggish, business, butt, by-end, by-purpose, byword, byword of reproach, cabal, calculation, call, calling, canasta, career, career building, careerism, casino, cast lots, castrated, cat, catch, cattle, charades, charting, chase, checkers, chess, chicanery, civet, climbing, collusion, commerce, commit, competition, compliant, complicity, complot, conception, concours, confederacy, connections, connivance, consenting, conspiracy, content, contest, contract, contract bridge, contrivance, contriving, cooperative, counterplot, coup, courageous, covin, craft, crambo, cribbage, cricket, crippled, croquet, curling, cut lots, cut the cards, cute trick, daring, dauntless, deals, decathlon, deceit, deep-laid plot, derby, derision, design, destination, device, devices, devil-may-care, disabled, discus, disposed, disposition, dissemble, dissimulate, distraction, diversion, docile, dodge, domestic animals, dominoes, double-header, doubles, draughts, draw lots, draw straws, dupe, eager, ecarte, emasculated, encounter, end, end in view, engagement, engineering, enterprise, enthusiastic, envisagement, euchre, event, expedient, fain, fair game, fake, fakement, faro, fauna, favorable, favorably disposed, favorably inclined, fearless, feign, feint, fencing, fetch, field, fight, figure of fun, figuring, finagling, final cause, finesse, fishing, five hundred, fives, flesh, flinch, fool, football, forcemeat, foresight, forethought, forward, foursome, frame-up, fright, frog, fun, fun and games, funmaking, furry creatures, gambit, gamble, games, games of chance, gamy, gazingstock, ghost, gimmick, gin, gin rummy, gliding, go, goal, goat, golf, good time, graphing, great fun, grift, gritty, ground plan, guidelines, gutsy, gutty, gymkhana, hachis, halt, halting, hamstrung, handball, handicapped, handicraft, hash, hearts, heroic, hide-and-seek, high old time, high time, high-spirited, hiking, hobbling, hockey, hopscotch, horseshoes, hunting, hurdling, ice hockey, idea, in the mind, in the mood, incapacitated, inclined, influence peddling, intention, intrepid, intrigue, intrigues, jacks, jackstones, jackstraws, jerky, jest, jestingstock, job, joint, joke, joust, jugged hare, jugglery, keno, kill, knavery, lacrosse, lame, lansquenet, laughingstock, laughs, lawn tennis, lay, layout, leapfrog, lifework, limping, line, line of business, line of work, lineup, little game, livestock, lobbying, lobbyism, long-range plan, loo, lot, lottery, lotto, lovely time, luging, machination, maimed, maneuver, maneuvering, manipulation, mapping, marbles, mark, master plan, match, match coins, matching, matrimony, meat, meet, meeting, menue viande, merels, method, methodology, metier, mettlesome, mince, minded, misrepresent, mission, mockery, monkey, monte, motorcycling, mountaineering, move, mumble-the-peg, mystery, napoleon, nervy, ninepins, number, object, object in mind, objective, occupation, old maid, ombre, operations research, organization, pall-mall, pallone, pastime, patience, pelota, pemmican, penny ante, pentathlon, pertinacious, picnic, picquet, plan, planning, planning function, play, play at dice, play games, play the ponies, play-off, pleasant time, pliant, plot, plotting, ploy, ploys, plucky, poker, polo, pool, position, post office, pot roast, practice, prearrangement, predisposed, prepared, pretend, prey, procedure, profession, program, program of action, prompt, prone, pursuit, pushball, put on, put-and-take, pyramids, quadrille, quarry, quick, quintain, quoits, race, racket, racquets, raffle off, rally, rationalization, ready, ready and willing, reason for being, receptive, recreation, red herring, red-blooded, regatta, rencontre, resolute, responsive, reverse, riding, rigging, roast, roller skating, ropes, rouge et noir, round, rounders, rowing, rum, rummy, runoff, ruse, sailing, sailplaning, sausage meat, schedule, schema, schematism, schematization, scheme, scheme of arrangement, schemery, schemes, scheming, scrapple, sculling, set, setup, seven-up, shift, shinny, shoot craps, shooting, shot-put, shuffleboard, singles, skat, skating, skeet, skeet shooting, ski-jumping, skiing, skin-diving, skittles, sledding, sleight, small game, snipsnapsnorum, snooker, snorkel diving, snowmobiling, soccer, softball, solitaire, spavined, specialization, specialty, speculate, speculation, spirited, spiritful, sport, sports, spunky, squash, stake, stickball, stock, straight poker, stratagem, strategic plan, strategy, strings, stud poker, subterfuge, surfing, system, systematization, table tennis, tactic, tactical plan, tactics, target, teleology, tenacious, tennis, tenpins, tent pegging, test, tetherball, the big picture, the hunted, the picture, thirty-one, threesome, ticktacktoe, tiddlywinks, tilt, tilting, tipcat, tivoli, tobogganing, toss, tough, tournament, tourney, toy, tractable, trade, trapshooting, trial, trick, trickery, tug of war, twenty-one, twosome, ultimate aim, unafraid, undaunted, underplot, unflinching, valiant, valorous, venery, venison, viande, victim, vingt-et-un, vocation, volleyball, wager, walk, walk of life, water polo, waterskiing, way, web of intrigue, well-disposed, well-inclined, whist, wild animals, wildlife, wile, willed, willing, willinghearted, wily device, wire-pulling, wires, work, working plan, wrestling, zealous