Tournament Definition & Meaning

American

British

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms tournament American [toor-nuh-muhnt, tur-] / ˈtʊər nə mənt, ˈtɜr- /

noun

1. a trial of skill in some game, in which competitors play a series of contests.

   a chess tournament.

2. a meeting for contests in a variety of sports, as between teams of different nations.

3. History/Historical.

   1. a contest or martial sport in which two opposing parties of mounted and armored combatants fought for a prize, with blunted weapons and in accordance with certain rules.

   2. a meeting at an appointed time and place for the performance of knightly exercises and sports.

tournament British / ˈtɜː-, ˈtʊənəmənt, ˈtɔː- /

noun

1. a sporting competition in which contestants play a series of games to determine an overall winner

2. a meeting for athletic or other sporting contestants

   an archery tournament

3. medieval history

   1. (originally) a martial sport or contest in which mounted combatants fought for a prize

   2. (later) a meeting for knightly sports and exercises

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

• pretournament noun

Etymology

Origin of tournament

1175–1225; Middle English tornement < Old French torneiement, equivalent to torne ( ier ) to tourney + -ment -ment

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Woods won’t be taking part in this week’s Genesis Invitational, a tournament he has hosted since 2020, as he continues to recover from that procedure.

From Los Angeles Times

Ireland, like England, have one win from their opening two games in the tournament, making the fixture a must-win for both sides to keep their championship hopes alive.

From BBC

Either side of that he registered two ducks -- out first ball in the opener against the USA and fourth ball against Pakistan -- meaning he has only faced five balls all tournament.

From Barron's

He reached his hundred off 58 balls, hitting six sixes and 11 fours in all in the highest individual innings of the tournament so far.

From Barron's

With confidence growing, the 27th and lowest-ranked team in the tournament are plotting one last hurrah -- a giant-killing against Group C leaders the West Indies in Kolkata on Wednesday.

From Barron's

Related Words

• contest
• event
• fight
• match
• meeting
• series
• sport
• test
• tourney

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.