game1

 
Pronunciation: /geɪm/

noun

  • 1a form of competitive activity or sport played according to rules.
  • (games) a meeting for sporting contests: the Olympic Games
  • (games) British athletics or sports as a lesson or activity at school: in order to be popular, you had to be good at games
  • a person’s performance in a game; a person’s standard of play: Rooks attempted to raise his game to another level
  • 2an activity that one engages in for amusement: a computer game
  • the equipment for a game, especially a board game or a computer game: buy your games and software from us
  • 3a complete episode or period of play, ending in a final result: a baseball game
  • a single portion of play forming a scoring unit in a match, especially in tennis: then came another ace to set up game, set, and match
  • Bridge a score of 100 points for tricks bid and made (the best of three games constituting a rubber).
  • 4 informal a type of activity or business regarded as a game: he was in the restaurant game for the glamour
  • a secret and clever plan or trick: I was on to his little game
  • 5 [mass noun] wild mammals or birds hunted for sport or food: they hunted game in Alaska
  • the flesh of wild mammals or birds, used as food: [as modifier]: a game pie

adjective

  • eager or willing to do something new or challenging: they were game for anything

verb

  • 1 [no object] (usually as noun modifier gaming) play at games of chance for money: a gaming machine
  • play video or computer games: the next generation of gaming consoles
  • 2 [with object] manipulate (a situation), typically in a way that is unfair or unscrupulous: it was very easy for a few big companies to game the system politicians blamed electricity generators for gaming the market

Phrases

ahead of (or behind) the game

ahead of (or lagging behind) one’s competitors or peers in the same sphere of activity: this investment is needed if we are to stay ahead of the game

beat someone at their own game

use someone’s own methods to outdo them in their chosen activity: we can compete against our trading rivals and beat them at their own game

the game is up

the deception or crime is revealed or foiled: when the police found the body in his garden the game was up

game on

a signal for play to begin in a game or match.
British informal said when one feels that a situation is about to develop in one’s favour: She soon invited me back to her place. Game on!

game over

informal said when a situation is regarded as hopeless or irreversible: once your customer loyalty vanishes it’s game over
[probably from the use of the phrase at the conclusion of a computer game]

game, set, and match

used to indicate a decisive victory: the trade unions have won—game, set, and match to the workers
[said at the end of a tennis match, indicating that a player has won a game that also wins them the set and the match]

the Great Game

  • 1spying.
  • 2the rivalry between Britain and Russia in central Asia during the 19th century.
    [first used by Rudyard Kipling in Kim (1901)]

make (a) game of

archaic mock; taunt.

off (or on) one's game

playing badly (or well): Aherne, on his game, has the virtues of gritty defence

on the game

British informal working as a prostitute: she had been on the game for three years

the only game in town

informal the only thing worth concerning oneself with: right now, the date with Babs looked as if it was the only game in town

play someone's game

advance another’s plans, whether intentionally or not: to what extent are they playing the government’s game?

play the game

behave in a fair or honourable way; abide by the rules.

play games

deal with someone or something in a way that lacks due seriousness or respect: she was grief-stricken and you played games with her

what's your (or the) game?

British informal what’s going on?.

Derivatives

gamely

adverb

gameness

noun

gamester

noun

Origin:

Old English gamen 'amusement, fun', gamenian 'play, amuse oneself', of Germanic origin