game Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a contest with rules to determine a winner
    • you need four people to play this game
  2. noun a single play of a sport or other contest
    • the game lasted two hours
  3. noun 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. noun animal hunted for food or sport
  5. noun (tennis) a division of play during which one player serves
  6. noun (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. noun the flesh of wild animals that is used for food
  8. noun a secret scheme to do something (especially something underhand or illegal)
    plot; secret plan.
    • they concocted a plot to discredit the governor
    • I saw through his little game from the start
  9. noun the game equipment needed in order to play a particular game
    • the child received several games for his birthday
  10. noun your occupation or line of work
    biz.
    • he's in the plumbing game
    • she's in show biz
  11. noun frivolous or trifling behavior
    • for actors, memorizing lines is no game
    • for him, life is all fun and games
  12. verb place a bet on
    stake; bet on; back; gage; punt.
    • Which horse are you backing?
    • I'm betting on the new horse
  13. adjective satellite disabled in the feet or legs
    halt; lame; gimpy; halting; crippled.
    • a crippled soldier
    • a game leg
  14. adjective satellite willing to face danger
    gritty; spunky; mettlesome; gamy; spirited; gamey.

WordNet

Game adjective
Etymology
Cf. W. cam crooked, and E. gambol, n.
Definitions
  1. Crooked; lame; as, a game leg. Colloq.
Game noun
Etymology
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.
Definitions
  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.
    ✍ 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.
    Milton.
Game adjective
Definitions
  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 intransitive verb
Etymology
OE. gamen, gameen, to rejoice, AS. gamenian to play. See Game, n.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Gamed ; present participle & verbal noun Gaming
Definitions
  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.

Webster 1913