gamelessadj.
/ˈɡeɪmlᵻs/, U.S. /ˈɡeɪmlᵻs/ΚΠ
a1586 (a1500) Freiris Berwik l. 557 in W. A. Craigie Maitland Folio MS (1919) I. 148 Lat him now go he is ane gameless [1568 Bannatyne graceles] gaist.
2. Having no game (game n. 16a); esp. (of a country, district, etc.) containing or producing no game.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > hunting area > [adjective] > abounding in game > without game
gameless1819
overtrapped1954
1819 ‘Country Gentleman’ Let. to Sir J. Shelley 16 Is it likely that a corporation dinner would be gameless, because the Woburn Manors were kept for an expected party of particular friends?
1830 J. Welsh Mil. Reminisc. II. i. 29 Heavy rain coming on, we were fain to return home gameless.
1835 C. J. Latrobe Rambler in N. Amer. I. xv. 222 Our main object was now to hunt and cure sufficient beef to support us on our return through a gameless country towards the Fort.
1891 M. M. Dowie Girl in Karpathians 104 A fine Scotch contempt for this gameless region.
1947 J. Stevenson-Hamilton Wild Life S. Afr. xviii. 136 They [sc. lions] stray outside the Kruger Park into a gameless area and wander aimlessly on.
1985 Washington Post (Nexis) 10 Nov. h2 Strip mining has made rivers fishless and mountains gameless.
2009 Church Times 27 Nov. 14/3 He had been invited to a shoot by a friend, and, at the end of a long, gameless day, had achieved success.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2013; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.a1586