game
Pluralgames
Pluralgames
- 1An activity with rules that people play for fun, often against each other to win.
Like a race where everyone agrees on the rules before they start.
Chess is a game that rewards patience and careful planning.
The children invented a new game with chalk and a ball.
UsageYou play a game. You win or lose.
- 2One whole time of playing, from the start until someone wins or it ends.
Like one round of a board game before you put it away.
We lost the first game but won the next two.
The game went into overtime after a goal in the final minute.
Similarmatch
- 3Short for video game, a game you play on a screen.
She spent all weekend finishing the game on her new console.
This game has amazing graphics and a huge world to explore.
UsageYou play a game on a computer or console.
Note
- 4Free, fun play that does not need fixed rules, done just to enjoy yourself.
Like playing around just for fun, with no winner and no rules.
To make cleaning up more fun, Dad turned it into a game.
For the children, the camping trip was all fun and games.
UsageSay make a game of something.
Similarfun, play, amusement, entertainment, recreation
Note
- 5How well someone plays a sport or does an activity, and how much skill they show.
Like the special way a player moves that others can recognize.
Her tennis game has improved a lot this season.
He brought his best game to the final match.
UsageSay my game, her game.
- 6Wild animals and birds that people hunt for sport or food, or the meat from them.
Like the deer and rabbits a hunter brings home to cook.
The hunters brought home enough game to feed the village.
Venison and other game taste richer than farmed meat.
UsageCommon phrases are hunt game and game meat.
- 7To spend time playing cards, board games, or video games.
Like sitting down with friends to play cards for the whole evening.
My friends and I game on weekends to relax.
She loves to game after school with her cousins.
UsagePeople often say gaming.
Similarplay
- 8A situation that has rules like a game, even though no one planned it that way.
Like a flock of birds that all move by rules nobody set.
The stock market can feel like a game with hidden rules.
Getting along with his new boss became a game of guessing what he wanted to hear.
UsagePeople say the waiting game.
Note
- 9A type of business or line of work.
Like treating your job as a contest you are trying to win.
He's been in the music game since he was a teenager.
After years in the restaurant game, she finally opened her own place.
UsageUse the with a type of work: the advertising game.
Similarbusiness, industry, trade, profession
Note
- 10A dishonest trick someone uses to get what they want.
Like cheating at cards when no one is looking, just to win.
Spreading rumors about rivals is a dirty game in this office.
Bribing officials to win contracts is a game as old as the industry itself.
UsageThe game is up means a trick has been found out.
Note
Less common meanings
- 11A very big sports event with many contests, often in different sports, that is held regularly.
Our town is building a new swimming pool for the Games next summer.
She won two gold medals at the last Games.
UsageSay the Games for the Olympics.
- 12Happy and ready to try something, even when it is hard, and not giving up.
Like a kid who says yes to every new thing at the park.
If you want to go hiking tomorrow, I'm game.
She was game for any adventure we suggested.
UsageSay game for something or game to do something.
Similarwilling, ready, eager, keen, enthusiastic
Oppositeunwilling, reluctant, hesitant
Note
- 13The boxed set of pieces, board, or cards you need to play something.
Like a kit with everything you need packed inside one box.
She pulled the game off the shelf and set up the board.
The store sells classic board games in colorful boxes.
- 14To use the weak spots in a set of rules to get something you should not get.
Like finding a sneaky shortcut that breaks the spirit of the rules.
Some companies game the tax system to pay almost nothing.
He found a way to game the rankings by creating fake accounts.
UsagePeople say game the system.
Similarexploit, manipulate, rig, abuse
Note
- 15In tennis and some sports like it, one of the parts that add up to make a set.
She held her serve to win the game and now leads 5-4 in the first set.
He lost the first three games but came back to win the set.
UsageA whole tennis contest is called a match.
Note
- 16
- 17Skill at attracting someone you are interested in romantically.
Like knowing just what to say to make someone like you.
He thinks he has game, but he gets nervous around anyone he likes.
She's got game. She got his number within five minutes.
UsagePeople say he has game or has no game.
Note
- 18A practice exercise that copies a real war so people can plan and learn.
Like a pretend battle where soldiers practice without anyone getting hurt.
The army held a war game to practice for a real battle.
In the game, two teams pretended to fight a war.
UsageSay war game.
Similarexercise, simulation
Note
- 19A school lesson where students play sports and do exercise.
Like a math class, but you play sports instead of sitting at a desk.
I always looked forward to games on Friday afternoons.
We played football in games last week, then changed back into uniform.
UsageSay do games, with no a or the.
SimilarPE
Note
- 20Ready to keep fighting another animal even when badly hurt.
Like a boxer who keeps swinging even after taking hard hits.
The game rooster kept fighting even after it was hurt.
Their game little terrier never backed away from a bigger dog.
Similarplucky, gritty, brave, spirited
Oppositecowardly, timid, craven
Note
- 21
- 22Work as a prostitute, often said as 'on the game'.
She'd been on the game since she was nineteen.
Many of the women down there were on the game to survive.
UsageSay be on the game for doing this work, and go on the game for starting it.
Similarprostitution
Note
- 23To use planned tricks to try to win someone over romantically.
Like following a step-by-step plan to win someone's interest.
He tried to game every woman he met that night.
She caught him gaming her with lines he'd clearly rehearsed.
UsageThis use is especially common when talking about pickup artists and their methods.
Similarseduce
Note
- 24Flirting, or playful lovemaking between people.
Note
- 25The winnings or prize that the winner takes.
- 26The number of points you need to reach to win.
- 27In some card games, a point for the player or side that wins the most valuable cards in tricks.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
It comes from Old English gamen, meaning fun or sport. This came from older Germanic words that may have meant 'people together'.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Game comes from Old English gamen, whose meanings included fun and sport. en.wiktionary.org
- Its earlier Germanic ancestry has a proposed interpretation meaning people together. en.wiktionary.org