| real tennis | |
| —n | |
| Also called: royal tennis an ancient form of tennis played in a four-walled indoor court with various openings, a sloping-roofed corridor along three sides, and a buttress on the fourth side | |
00:10
00:09
00:08
00:07
00:06
00:05
00:04
00:03
00:02
00:01
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
real tennis
racket sport that is descended from and almost identical to the medieval tennis game jeu de paume ("game of the palm"). Real tennis has been played since the Middle Ages, but the game has become almost completely obscured by its own descendant, lawn tennis. Although real tennis contributed its name and scoring system to lawn tennis, real tennis is now played at fewer than 30 courts in the world. The court at Hampton Court palace, where Henry VIII played, is still used occasionally.
Learn more about real tennis with a free trial on Britannica.com.