an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.
2.
a particular form of this, especially in the out of doors.
3.
diversion; recreation; pleasant pastime.
4.
jest; fun; mirth; pleasantry: What he said in sport was taken seriously.
5.
mockery; ridicule; derision: They made sport of him.
c.1440, "pleasant passtime," from sport (v.). Meaning "game involving physical exercise" first recorded 1523. Original sense preserved in phrases such as in sport "in jest" (c.1440). Sense of "stylish man" is from 1861, Amer.Eng., probably because they lived by gambling and
betting on races. Meaning "good fellow" is attested from 1881 (e.g. be a sport, 1913). The sport of kings was originally (1668) war-making. Sportswear is from 1912. Sports car first attested 1928. Sportscast first recorded 1938. Sportsman first recorded 1706. Sporting "characterized by conduct constant with that of a sportsman" is attested from 1799 (e.g. sporting chance, 1897). Sportsmanship is from 1745.
n. friend; chum. (A term of address.) : Well, sport, looks like we have a little problem here.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition. Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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