sportingn.
/ˈspɔːtɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈspɔrdɪŋ/ 1. The action of sport v. (in various senses); an instance of this. Cf. disporting n.1Now chiefly attributive: see Compounds 1, Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > [noun]
gleea700
playeOE
gameeOE
lakec1175
skentingc1175
wil-gomenc1275
solacec1290
deduit1297
envesurec1300
playingc1300
disport1303
spilea1325
laking1340
solacingc1384
bourdc1390
mazec1390
welfarea1400
recreationc1400
solancec1400
sporta1425
sportancea1450
sportingc1475
deport1477
recreancea1500
shurting15..
ebate?1518
recreating1538
abatementc1550
pleasuring1556
comfortmenta1558
disporting1561
pastiming1574
riec1576
joyance1595
spleen1598
merriment1600
amusement1603
amusing1603
entertainment1612
spleena1616
divertisement1651
diversion1653
disportment1660
sporting of nature1666
fun1726
délassement1804
gammock1841
pleasurement1843
dallying1889
rec1922
good, clean fun1923
cracka1966
looning1966
shoppertainment1993
society > leisure > sport > [noun] > participation in
sportingc1475
playing1561
sporting of nature1666
field1870
c1475 (c1445) R. Pecock Donet (1921) 39 Hise goodis..he [sc. God] haþ ordeined..of vs to be..vsid..into releef of oure nede, and into oure necessarye sportyng.
1490 W. Caxton tr. Eneydos xv. 59 Passynge the tyme in grete playsaunces, festes, playes & sportynges.
a1500 (?a1450) Gesta Romanorum (Harl. 7333) (1879) 17 (MED) The serpent toke all his briddis with him And ȝede in to þe feld of sporting.
1550 R. Sherry Treat. Schemes & Tropes sig. Cviiv Amara irrisio, is a bitter sporting a mocke of our enemye.
1598 J. Marston Metamorph. Pigmalions Image xxxv. 18 Could he abstaine mid'st such a wanton sporting From doing that, which is not fit reporting?
1614 A. Gorges tr. Lucan Pharsalia iii. 86 The common sort to sportings bent.
1628 P. Fletcher Brittain's Idai sig. B The Shepheards boyes, with hundred sportings light, Gaue winges vnto the times to speedy hast.
1687 P. Ayres Lyric Poems (1906) 322 Dear Bird thy tunes and sportings here, Delight us all the day.
1715 C. Cibber Venus & Adonis 14 When thy Sporting gives the Leisure, Think I Languish here for thee.
1717 C. Gildon tr. Heliodorus Adventures Theagenes & Chariclia I. v. 226 There also you might see the wanton sportings of Lambs.
1775 Gentleman's Mag. 25 43/1 Fast living, now commonly called sporting, formerly stigmatized by the names of whoring and drunkenness.
1796 W. Windham Speeches Parl. (1812) I. 286 Dogs kept for sporting, were peculiar to the rich, and though he did not mean to arraign sporting, he thought it not the highest sort of amusement.
c1803 C. K. Sharpe New Oxf. Guide ii, in Mem. (1888) I. 18 And sporting of oaks they call shutting of doors.
1827 D. Johnson Sketches Indian Field Sports (ed. 2) 178 From this time their sporting was conducted on a much more grand and formidable scale.
a1859 I. Nichols Hours with Evangelists (1867) I. 29 We have all seen with feelings of commiseration the sportings of the cat with the mouse.
1880 Punch Aug. 8 You want me to give you a few hints on sporting.
1985 L. McMurty Lonesome Dove (1986) iii. 37 She hadn't done any sporting up to that time, though she had developed early.
2005 R. Rankin Brightonomicon 260 Young fellow-me-lads who all look curiously alike, all being..given to the sporting of sportwear.
ΚΠ
1600 S. Nicholson Acolastus his After-witte sig. D4 O wretched life, what is thy benefite? Whose chiefest sportings are calamitie.
1666 Bp. S. Parker Free Censvre Platonick Philos. (1667) 76 The Quaintest plays and sportings of wit.
1675 R. Ferguson Interest of Reason in Relig. ii. 283 Origen..obtrudes the sportings of his fancy for Religious and Sacred Mysteries.
1688 W. Sherlock Vindic. Some Protestant Princ. sig. Bv When I have Reason and Truth on my side I am perfectly insensible of all the Sportings of Wit and Satyr.
1720 E. Ward Delights of Bottle i. 11 For all we write, do, say, or think, Are but the Sportings of our Drink.
1761 tr. C. Batteux Course Belles Lettres III. iv. iii. 252 If, thro' pure indulgence, we grant him the licence of feigning such things, in the sporting of his imagination.., yet must he not carry this licence so far, as to tell us the roots of trees grow upwards.
1795 J. Hamilton Observ. Seats & Causes Dis. I. Pref. p.xv He has always wished rather to discover the deliberation of a sound judgement, than to display the sportings of a lively imagination.
1815 W. Combe Eng. Dance of Death I. 220 The scheme of Life..does not the least order keep, But moves with its fantastic train, In frolic sportings o'er the brain.
3. † a. sporting of nature: the action on the part of nature of producing an anomalous form or variety; an instance or occasion of this. Obsolete.Cf. sport v. 8a, sport of nature at sport n.1 Phrases 4a.† b. The irregular diffusion or deposition of pollen. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > [noun]
gleea700
playeOE
gameeOE
lakec1175
skentingc1175
wil-gomenc1275
solacec1290
deduit1297
envesurec1300
playingc1300
disport1303
spilea1325
laking1340
solacingc1384
bourdc1390
mazec1390
welfarea1400
recreationc1400
solancec1400
sporta1425
sportancea1450
sportingc1475
deport1477
recreancea1500
shurting15..
ebate?1518
recreating1538
abatementc1550
pleasuring1556
comfortmenta1558
disporting1561
pastiming1574
riec1576
joyance1595
spleen1598
merriment1600
amusement1603
amusing1603
entertainment1612
spleena1616
divertisement1651
diversion1653
disportment1660
sporting of nature1666
fun1726
délassement1804
gammock1841
pleasurement1843
dallying1889
rec1922
good, clean fun1923
cracka1966
looning1966
shoppertainment1993
society > leisure > sport > [noun] > participation in
sportingc1475
playing1561
sporting of nature1666
field1870
the world > life > biology > biological processes > genetic activity > [noun] > changes or actions of genes or chromosomes > mutation
sporting of nature1666
sporting1827
saltation1870
mutation1904
point mutation1921
mutation pressure1929
macromutation1940
micromutation1940
mutagenesis1950
1666 N. Hodges Vindiciæ Medicinæ & Medicorum (new ed.) 114 Naturae ludus illis miraculum; The sportings of Nature delight them most.
1684 S. Pordage tr. T. Willis Descr. & Use Nerves in Pract. Physick (rev. ed.) 134 It may seem wonderful, if every one of these be destinated to some uses, and are not rather sprinkled here and there by chance, and as it were by the inconsiderate sporting of Nature.
1695 J. Woodward Ess. Nat. Hist. Earth 38 They are no Shells, but meer Sportings of active Nature.
1747 Philos. Trans. 1746 (Royal Soc.) 44 317 The Lusus Naturæ or sportings of Nature is a general solution too often brought in.
1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters iii. 119 The infinite diversity..may be looked upon as so many sportings of nature.
1863 tr. E. Swedenborg Angelic Wisdom concerning Divine Providence (1873) 132 It is not an illusion of mind, or a sporting of nature, or something without a cause.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > flower or part containing reproductive organs > flower or flowering plant > [noun] > pollination
sporting1764
pollinization1871
pollination1873
pollinating1892
1764 Ann. Reg. 1763 ii. Nat. Hist. 73 Thus..amongst apple-trees, a mixture of fruit hath been observed on the same tree, supposed by the sporting of the farina.
c. The deviation of organisms, esp. plants, from the parent stock or type, esp. by spontaneous mutation; (also) an abnormal form or variation so produced; a sport (sport n.1 6a).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > variety or species > [noun] > mutation > spontaneous mutation
sporting1827
the world > life > biology > biological processes > genetic activity > [noun] > changes or actions of genes or chromosomes > mutation
sporting of nature1666
sporting1827
saltation1870
mutation1904
point mutation1921
mutation pressure1929
macromutation1940
micromutation1940
mutagenesis1950
1827 Gardener's Mag. 2 195 Two of the varieties described, the pale pink and cluster pink, are recorded as the result of sporting.
1842 Florist's Jrnl. (1846) 3 84 This is remarkably the case in the natural ‘sporting of varieties’, as it is called.
1888 Amer. Naturalist 22 979 The plant in its sportings under culture tends to the form of the marrow cabbage.
1929 D. Hall Bk. Tulip 108 The most remarkable case of sporting in the tulip is the occurrence of what are known as ‘thieves’.
2003 C. Quest-Ritson Climbing Roses of World xii. 204 Even today, the exact cause of this sporting is unknown, but sports tend to pass on their climbing habit to their seedlings.
Compounds
C1.
a. General attributive, as sporting association, sporting event, sporting game, sporting place, sporting purpose, etc.
ΚΠ
a1525 ( Coventry Leet Bk. (1908) II. 458 Þe people maken þe same seuerall grounde a sportyng place with shotyng & other games.
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus Ludicrum certamen, a sportyng game.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 iv. i. 330 Like a schoole broke vp, Each hurries toward his home, and sporting place. View more context for this quotation
?1790 Dhooraling 3 Altho' decriped blind and lame, She long'd for a touch of the sporting game.
1817 W. Scott Rob Roy I. v. 94 The uniform of a sporting association.
1825 T. Hook Sayings & Doings 2nd Ser. I. 155 Dyson could always make up a little sporting party.
1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay ii. 25 A little further conversation on financial and sporting topics.
a1907 F. Thompson Wks. (1913) I. 211 Pan-imbued Tempe wood, Pretty player's sporting-place.
1920 Times 14 June 15/3 Among the sporting events which follow each other in..June, Royal Ascot..is unique.
1968 Kingston (Ont.) Whig-Standard 27 Nov. 16/1 Orienteering is a Swedish sport, and in Scandinavia as a whole, it dominates the sporting scene.
1991 I. Sinclair Downriver v. 128 Two of the ‘potato-heads’ began to fight..with sufficient spunk to attract the sporting instincts of the assembled Jocks.
2004 Daily Tel. 24 June 25/4 Harrow's desire to ‘one-up’ Eton in the sporting arena grows stronger by the day.
b. With the sense ‘used in or for sport’, as sporting cartridge, sporting device, sporting dog, sporting gear, sporting goods, sporting gun, sporting jacket, etc.In quots. 1606 and 1705 with the more specific sense ‘used for amusement’; see also sporting-piece n., sporting stock n. at Compounds 2.
ΚΠ
1606 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) ii. iii. 146 Rather (O Iacob) choose we all to die, Then to betray our Native Libertie, Then to become the sporting Tennis-ball Of a proud Monarch.
1705 S. Centlivre Gamester 71 You're Fortune's sporting Footballs at the best, Few are his Joys, and small the Gamester's Rest.
1728 A. Ramsay Anacreontic on Love 25 If that the rain Has wrang'd aught of my sporting-gear.
1789 G. White Let. in Nat. Hist. Selborne 281 No sporting dogs will flush woodcocks till inured to the scent and trained to the sport.
1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 2nd Ser. 53 A brown coat, something between a great coat and a ‘sporting’ jacket, on his back.
1869 Boyd's Business Directory 500 John H. Mann, importer and dealer in guns, fishing tackle, gun powder, and all sporting goods.
1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator (new ed.) I. 271/1 The stout pasteboard sporting cartridges.
1931 A. Christie Sittaford Myst. xxi. 171 My aunt was saying he moved lock, stock and barrel. Took his elephant's trotters and his hippopotamus's toothy pegs and all the sporting rifles and what nots.
1978 R. B. Parker Judas Goat xxii. 135 ‘Picked up a new shotgun at a sporting goods store,’ he said.
2001 Archaeology Sept. 20/1 An organization that promotes knowledge of this powerful prehistoric weapon and its use as a modern sporting device.
c. With the sense ‘providing journalistic coverage of sport’, as sporting column, sporting magazine, sporting newspaper, sporting page, sporting paper, etc.
ΚΠ
1793 (title) The Sporting Magazine; or Monthly Calendar of the Transactions of the Turf.
1849 C. Brontë Shirley III. iv. 75 He reads only a sporting paper.
1860 C. Dickens Uncommerc. Traveller in All Year Round 26 May 155/2 If I cherished betting propensities, I should probably be found registered in sporting newspapers [etc.].
1863 Baily's Monthly Mag. Apr. 153 An hour and a half had been ‘cut to waste’, as the sporting reporters would say, and no tidings..had been received.
1865 Pall Mall Gaz. 11 Sept. 10/1 The long list of ‘sharps’ who advertise their ‘tips’ in the sporting journals.
1901 Bookman Oct. 123/2 Americans..have noted the peculiarities of the diction of the writers of the sporting columns.
1907 M. E. Braddon Dead Love has Chains vi. 130 Slang has to be forgiven in a man, like smoking, and sporting papers, and motors.
1961 P. White Riders in Chariot ix. 259 He would..go away, or reach for the sporting page.
1980 P. Larkin in Times Lit. Suppl. 10 Oct. iv. 1127/1 Novel by novel we meet the jockeys, the trainers,..the bookmakers, the bloodstock agents, the sporting journalists.
C2. † sporting-piece n. Obsolete a plaything.† sporting stock n. Obsolete a laughing stock; a butt of jokes.
sporting-box n. [see box n.2 29] a small residence for use during the sporting season.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > hunting area > hunting lodge > [noun]
lodge1465
forest-house1646
hunting-seat1716
sporting-box1787
hunting-box1799
shooting box1812
forest-lodge1847
shooting-lodge1859
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > a house > types of house > [noun] > hunting-lodge
lodge1465
forest-house1646
hunting-seat1716
sporting-box1787
hunting-box1799
shooting box1812
forest-lodge1847
shooting-lodge1859
1787 R. Jodrell One & All i. 24 The young Blood has there built a neat sporting box.
1840 W. Howitt Visits to Remarkable Places 1st Ser. 210 The Duke of Devonshire's house..serves for a sporting-box, when his Grace comes hither in autumn to the moors.
1949 Times 25 Aug. 10/4 Strikingly designed small modern residence..ideal as an angling or sporting box.
sporting calendar n. (a) a publication containing details of sporting events which have recently taken place, and a schedule of coming events (now historical); (b) the series of sporting events which take place throughout the year, viewed collectively.
ΚΠ
1770 (title) The sporting calendar: containing an account of the plates, matches, and sweepstakes, that have been run for in Great-Britain and Ireland, in the year, 1769.
1809 Times 7 Apr. 3/4 The wonderful mare belonging to Mr Wilson..yesterday performed a task unprecedented in the sporting calendar.
1838 Knickerbocker May 450 The jockey club book, the sporting calendar, were the only books he thought worth the mind's employment.
2004 A. Harvey Beginnings Commerc. Sporting Culture in Brit. iii. 41 Sport was also given a new structure with the publication of a sporting calendar.
2008 Sunday Mercury (Nexis) 6 Jan. 71 Watching the clock countdown to the frantic finale of the January transfer window has become a new highlight of the sporting calendar.
sporting celebrity n. (a) fame relating to or resulting from participation in sport; (b) a person renowned for his or her sporting prowess; a celebrity in the world of sport.
ΚΠ
1811 Sporting Mag. Oct. 2/2 My friend Tit is a descendant of Ball, of sporting celebrity.
1863 J. Timbs Things to be Remembered 217 His political and sporting celebrity has waned with time.
1907 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 11 Sept. Though the sporting celebrity may flout and sneer at us..it is to us and not to him that posterity will look for an estimate of his greatness.
2000 Disability Now May 15/2 They are joined by Sophie Batterbury, features picture editor of the Independent Review , and a sporting celebrity.
sporting door n. University slang the outer of two doors to a college room, which may be shut to indicate that the occupant does not wish to be disturbed; cf. sport v. 14b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > that which or one who closes or shuts > a barrier > [noun] > a closed door
sporting door1824
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > types of door > [noun] > other types of door
hall-doorc1275
falling doorc1300
stable doorc1330
vice-door1354
hecka1400
lodge-doorc1400
street door1465
gate-doora1500
portal1516
backdoor1530
portal door1532
side door1535
by-door1542
outer door1548
postern door1551
house door1565
fore-door1581
way-door1597
leaf door1600
folding door1611
clap-door1625
balcony-door1635
out-door1646
anteportc1660
screen door1668
frontish-door1703
posticum1704
side entrance1724
sash-door1726
Venetian door1731
oak1780
jib-door1800
trellis?c1800
sporting door1824
ledge-door1825
through door1827
bivalves1832
swing-door1833
tradesmen's entrance1838
ledged door1851
tradesmen's door?1851
fire door1876
storm door1878
shoji1880
fire door1889
Dutch door1890
patio door1900
stable door1900
ledge(d) and brace(d) door1901
suicide door1925
louvre door1953
1824 Blackwood's Mag. Oct. 460 (note) The rooms in College are like the chambers in the Inns of Court, having an outer-door and an inner one. The outer is called the sporting door, and is a very useful barricado against duns.
1876 W. C. Fowler Ess. Hist. Lit. Educ. 97 Most cosy rooms they are, with their prodigiously thick walls..their impregnable sporting doors that defy alike the hostile dun and the too friendly ‘fast man’.
1914 J. O. Bevan University Life in Olden Time 37 College rooms have two doors. The outer door is called the sporting door, and is opened with a key.
sporting editor n. = sports editor n. at sport n.1 Compounds 3c.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > journalism > journalist > editor of journal or newspaper > [noun] > other types of journal or newspaper editor
telegraph editor1816
editor1837
managing editor1837
sporting editor1857
news editor1868
day editor1869
art editor1871
guest editor1925
1857 Spirit of Times 1 Aug. 340/2 We see exactly, where the ‘sporting editor’ of The Times has made his fatal mistake about handicaps and handicappers.
1899 T. W. Hall Tales 128 The somewhat intellectual-looking sporting editor of the aforesaid Universe.
1913 Arizona Republican 4 July 4/2 The sporting editor of the Republican.
2007 Advertiser (Adelaide) (Nexis) 16 June 80 He worked under a young Rupert Murdoch, became sporting editor, assistant editor and features editor.
sporting fish n. = sport fish n. at sport n.1 Compounds 4a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > [noun] > caught for sport
game fish1837
sporting fish1848
sport fish1915
1848 Amer. Whig Rev. Feb. 190 He is of no value as an article of food, but as a sporting fish is highly prized by the more daring of southern gentlemen.
1996 E. Tenner Why Things bite Back vi. 128 After Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout, they [sc. carp] are still among Europe's favorite sporting fish.
sporting house n. a building in which sport or entertainment may be found; esp. a house of ill repute; a brothel, a gambling den.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > accommodation or lodging > public lodging-places > [noun] > inn
guest housec1000
innc1230
hostry1377
host1382
harbergeryc1384
hostelc1384
hostelryc1386
harbergagea1400
hostelar1424
hostagec1440
innsc1550
host-house1570
fondaco1599
change1609
auberge1615
sporting house1615
albergo1617
rancho1648
change-housea1653
posada1652
public house1655
inn-house1677
funduq1684
locanda1770
fonda1777
livery tavern1787
roadhouse1806
meson1817
tambo1830
gasthaus1834
estalagem1835
caravanserai1848
temperance inna1849
sala1871
bush-inn1881
ryokan1914
B & B1918
pousada1949
minshuku1970
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > prostitution > [noun] > brothel
houseOE
bordelc1300
whorehousec1330
stew1362
bordel housec1384
stewc1384
stivec1386
stew-house1436
bordelryc1450
brothel house1486
shop?1515
bains1541
common house1545
bawdy-house1552
hothouse1556
bordello1581
brothela1591
trugging house1591
trugging place1591
nunnery1593
vaulting-house1596
leaping house1598
Pickt-hatch1598
garden house1606
vaulting-school1606
flesh-shambles1608
whore-sty1621
bagnioa1640
public house1640
harlot-house1641
warrena1649
academy1650
call house1680
coney burrow1691
case1699
nanny-house1699
house of ill reputea1726
smuggling-ken1725
kip1766
Corinth1785
disorderly house1809
flash-house1816
dress house1823
nanny-shop1825
house of tolerance1842
whore shop1843
drum1846
introducing house1846
khazi1846
fast house1848
harlotry1849
maison de tolérance1852
knocking-shop1860
lupanar1864
assignation house1870
parlour house1871
hook shop1889
sporting house1894
meat house1896
massage parlour1906
case house1912
massage establishment1921
moll-shop1923
camp1925
notch house1926
creep joint1928
slaughterhouse1928
maison de convenance1930
cat-house1931
Bovril1936
maison close1939
joy-house1940
rib joint1940
gaff1947
maison de passe1960
rap parlour1973
1615 H. Parrot Mastiue sig. C Cucullus, carefull of his reputation, Chose euermore your priuat'st sporting house.
?1800 Garland New Songs 2 Moll of the wood lives alone, She keeps a sporting house of her own.
1894 W. T. Stead If Christ came to Chicago 5 The novice in the sporting house, as well as the hardened old harridan who drives the trade in human flesh, are herded together.
1931 Daily Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 6 Oct. 7/1 On ‘sporting’ houses..a correspondent writes to say..that if you cleared away these places of resort, you would find the police courts full of cases of sexual crime, outrage and seduction.
2004 Amer. Music 22 3990 A song he reportedly picked up at a St. Louis sporting house.
sporting matter n. †(a) a subject of mirth; a ‘laughing matter’ (obsolete); (b) a matter concerning sport or sporting activity.
ΚΠ
1579 L. Tomson tr. J. Calvin Serm. Epist. S. Paule to Timothie & Titus 310/1 It is no sporting matter when the Lorde calleth vs to serue him in this office.
1700 T. Knaggs Serm. against Atheism 23 Then he will find Sin no sporting matter.
1880 ‘M. Twain’ Tramp Abroad App. f. 626 No information about prize fights.., rifle-matches, or other sporting matters.
2000 J. P. McCutcheon in A. Caiger & S. Gardiner Professional Sport in E.U. ii. 134 The composition of a national team is purely a sporting matter and does not invoke economic considerations.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > [noun]
beaubeletc1205
juelet1340
trifle1375
geara1400
gaudc1430
jape1436
playing thing1440
baublea1475
playock1508
gewgawa1529
toy?1565
gay1577
gambol1579
ruggle1598
frolic1650
playthinga1674
wally1692
sporting-piece1740
playferea1774
play material1897
play-pretty1905
1740 S. Richardson Pamela II. 36 Here I am again! a pure Sporting-piece for the Great! a mere Tennis-ball of Fortune.
sporting print n. a print depicting a scene of hunting, shooting, or fishing.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > printmaking > [noun] > a print > types of print generally
sporting print1811
colour print1855
autotypy1872
metallograph1890
surimono1899
Medici print1906
restrike1912
cliché-verre1913
pinpricked picture1936
pinprick picture1943
kiss impression1946
original print1961
1811 Edinb. Advertiser 16 Aug. 1/2 Sporting prints..two elegant sporting subjects, of the fox breaking cover, and the death of the fox.
1973 G. Greene Honorary Consul ii. iii. 81 A corridor hung with Victorian sporting prints: riders falling into a stream, checked at a bullfinch, rebuked by the master.
2007 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 4 Aug. 20 It's all quite folksy, with black beams, a large fireplace and a bit of ancient brick wall, plus a few pews and some sporting prints.
sporting shoot n. a game-shooting expedition; = shoot n.1 1e.
ΚΠ
1887 Fitchburg (Mass.) Daily Sentinel 8 Nov. He has been made an honorary member of the Pelican club, an exclusive institution, organized to encourage sports, and patronized by the sporting shoots of the nobility and gentry.
2000 Clay Shooting Jan. 5/3 [He] joined thirty members of the London Chamber of Commerce at the Holland and Holland Shooting Ground for a sixty bird sporting shoot, a six-man flush and an excellent lunch.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > derision, ridicule, or mockery > fact or condition of being mocked or ridiculed > [noun] > object of ridicule
hethinga1340
japing-stickc1380
laughing stock?1518
mocking-stock1526
laughing game1530
jesting-stock1535
mockage1535
derision1539
sporting stocka1556
game1562
May game1569
scoffing-stock1571
playing stock1579
make-play1592
flouting-stock1593
sport1598
bauchle1600
jest1606
butt1607
make-sport1611
mocking1611
mirtha1616
laughing stakea1630
scoff1640
gaud1650
blota1657
make-mirth1656
ridicule1678
flout1708
sturgeon1708
laugh1710
ludibry1722
jestee1760
make-game1762
joke1791
laughee1808
laughing post1810
target1842
jest-word1843
Aunt Sally1859
monument1866
punchline1978
a1556 N. Udall Ralph Roister Doister (?1566) iii. iii. sig. D.iiijv We do hym loute and flocke, And make him among vs, our common sporting stocke.
sporting time n. a period of sport or recreation; leisure time.
ΚΠ
1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay Trewnesse Christian Relig. xiv. 252 So the Soule which is in the Iayle of his souereine Lord God, hath no respit or sportingtyme to come tell vs what is done there.
1795 J. Trusler Habitable World Described XVIII. xxiii. 236 These trees are covered on one side with a net, which remains upon them, as long as the sporting time lasts.
1830 Christian Examiner & Gen. Rev. May 145 We certainly do not look upon it [sc. life] as a sporting time which may be wasted in the pursuit of amusements and trifles.
2004 M. Huggins Victorians & Sport i. 15 There was a slow repatterning and reconfiguring of sporting time towards Saturday afternoons.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
sportingadj.
/ˈspɔːtɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈspɔrdɪŋ/ 1. Chiefly of a person.
a. Participating, or inclined to engage in recreation, amusement, or pleasure; (in later use chiefly North American slang) spec. (a) (of a woman or girl) sexually promiscuous; engaged in prostitution; (b) (chiefly of a man) inclined to gamble, esp. as a regular occupation or activity. Now rare.See also sporting girl n. and sporting man n. at Compounds.
ΚΠ
c1475 (c1445) R. Pecock Donet (1921) 147 Where in þis heep is conteyned þat a man schulde not be ouer myry and ioieful and ouermoche sportyng?
1557 Earl of Surrey et al. Songes & Sonettes sig. Z.iiv The sportyng knight that scorneth Cupides kinde..In game vnhides the leden sparkes of minde, And gaines the gole, where glowyng flames should spede.
1635 T. May Victorious Reigne Edward III iv. sig. H 7v Sporting Boyes.., by chosen companies Would act before their pleased parents eyes The late-fought battels.
1653 H. Holcroft tr. Procopius War with Vandals i. 22 in tr. Procopius Hist. Warres Justinian It was then acounted as an idle riddle among sporting boys.
1721 E. Ward Northern Cuckold 5 For sporting Ladies are such Witches, No Bars can keep 'em from the Breeches, But, Hunter like, they'll boldly fly O'er all that interrupts their Joy.
1774 R. Cumberland Note of Hand ii. i. 23 I believe they're gentlemen of the turf; sporting gentlemen, I believe.
1835 J. H. Ingraham South-West II. 10 Two..are professed ‘black-legs’; or, as they more courteously style themselves, ‘sporting gentlemen’.
1857 Househ. Words 12 Sept. 264/1 With its sparring snobs, and flashing satins, and sporting gents and painted cheeks.
1902 G. B. Shaw Mrs. Warren's Profession p. xxix Well, does anybody who knows the sporting world really believe that bookmakers are worse than their neighbors?
1946 K. Tennant Lost Haven (1947) ii. 40 Her mother was entertaining some sporting friends who had dropped in to settle up certain transactions.
1970 L. B. Montgomery in S. Terkel Hard Times v. 377 They had Blue Monday parties, the sporting people... If they'd been hustlin' anything, they'd be poppin', buying moonshine, having fun, on Monday.
1993 Afr. Amer. Rev. 27 223/1 She was a sporting woman; we called them playgirls back then, and Virie didn't play unless the money played first.
b. Practising, following, or interested in hunting, shooting, or fishing and (in later use occasionally) other activities involving physical skill and exertion.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > hunter > [adjective]
huntinga1340
Nimrodian1631
venatious1660
venaticala1666
sporting1679
gameful1704
Nimrodical1796
Nimrodic1816
venatory1837
theriomaniac1845
gamey1848
venatoriala1881
society > leisure > sport > player or sportsperson > [adjective]
sporting1679
sportive1713
sportsmanly1778
sportsmanlike1816
reserve1869
sporty1889
sportif1953
1679 J. Dryden & N. Lee Oedipus iv. i. 60 He made me Lord of all his Rural Pleasures; For much he lov'd 'em: oft I entertain'd With sporting Swains, o're whom I had command.
1696 R. Norton Pausanias i. i. 8 So the good labouring Hound, with eager chase, Pursues the Game, his sporting Master eats.
1740 Cheshire Huntress & Old Fox Caught at Last i. 16 I heard Maister say, that he wou'd go to Law with Sir John, and the rest of the Sporting Gentlmen.
1792 Times 26 June 4/2 The situation is particularly eligible for a sporting gentleman, as it abounds with game, and is only two miles from the famous Pytchley hunt.
1858 W. M. Thackeray Virginians I. vi. 47 Harry was away from home with some other sporting friends.
1885 M. E. Braddon Wyllard's Weird iv ‘I can't think what has come to Grahame,’ muttered a sporting squire to his next neighbour.
1896 Harper's Mag. Feb. 344/1 The sporting set..rarely eat, except now and again a bite at the Elkridge Kennels, or at a pig-roast of the Green Spring Valley Hunt.
1935 Times 15 Jan. 14/4 His robust fearlessness and cheery disposition made so sporting a parson a welcome visitor.
1982 G. Ewart New Ewart 103 Hear the sporting shooting ladies crossing moors of grouse and rock.
2000 Northern Echo (Nexis) 22 Nov. 6 b Sporting soldier Mick Brown is enjoying a taste of adventure from his Army base in Gutersloh, Germany.
c. Practising or exemplifying the ideals of a particular sport; characterized by sportsmanlike conduct; (also more generally) fair, generous; resilient, ‘game’.
ΚΠ
1867 F. Francis Bk. Angling iv. 115 It is the most sporting..way of fishing for them.
1915 J. Turner Let. 19 Apr. in C. Warren Somewhere in France (2019) 7 My dear little sister..was so jolly sporting as to see the lot of us off.
1920 ‘O. Douglas’ Penny Plain xi. 115 ‘Isn't it awful..about our minister marrying..a girl twenty years younger than himself.’ ‘But how sporting of him,’ Pamela said.
1923 P. G. Wodehouse Inimitable Jeeves x. 112 To reward Jeeves for his really sporting behaviour in this matter of the chump Cyril.
1962 S. Raven Close of Play iii. xv. 186 By declaring when they did, they left Baron's Lodge with three-hundred and twenty-two runs to make in two hours... It was, on the whole, a sporting declaration.
1995 Washington Post 2 Apr. c3 It is not sporting to kick someone when he is so far down—tempting, but not sporting.
2. Of a thing.
a. Providing entertainment or diversion; characterized by jesting or levity; light-hearted, amusing. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > [adjective] > engaged in amusement
playingOE
sporting1549
game-playing1835
society > leisure > entertainment > playfulness > [adjective]
gamingOE
playfulc1225
gamefulc1275
gamelya1350
gamesomea1375
playable?c1475
frisky?a1500
sporting1549
sportful1577
toyish1577
toyful1580
sportive1593
gambol1600
sportly1600
sporting1607
playsome1612
jiggish1635
toysome1638
ludible1656
ludibund1668
good-humoured1682
flippant1711
lusory1711
gamp1737
kittenish1753
sportable1767
disportive1773
whisky1782
playward1878
1549 T. Chaloner tr. Erasmus Praise of Folie sig. Nijv To recreate theim selves with sportyng tales a crashe.
1567 G. Turberville tr. G. B. Spagnoli Eglogs iv. 29 This Boy bent to refresh (I say) his ouertyred mynde With sportyng play, about the hornes with twig this Goate did bynde.
1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. i. 40 [An elephant] will in a sporting maner gently heave up with his snowte such persons as he meeteth.
1712 J. Swift Wonderful Prophecy in Wks. (1751) III. i. 173 Think not that this baleful dog-star only shaketh his tail at you in waggery... It is not a sporting tail, but a fiery tail.
1765 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy VIII. xxxi. 131 'Tis the sporting little filly-folly which carries you out for the..present hour—a maggot, a butterfly,..a fiddle-stick.
1811 Sporting Mag. 37 75 War cannot..be styled a sporting rig; why then, I answer, it is a fashionable rig.
1893 Times 29 Apr. 11/4 The debate was naturally too one-sided to afford any sporting interest either to the combatants or to the spectators.
2001 Amer. Mus. 19 337 This playful, sporting battle was, of course, diametrically opposed to the global conflict of the day.
b. Providing good sport, esp. good hunting; (also more generally) relating to or characteristic of sport (sport n.1 4c); sporty, sportif.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > [adjective]
sportly1600
sporting1713
playable1873
1713 R. North Disc. Fish & Fish-ponds ix. 25 They [sc. moats] shall nourish a World of Fish, which, tho' not so well at Command as in other Waters, yet for Angling, and the sporting Part of Net-fishing, are better than the others are.
1799 Times 1 June 4/3 Hunting Box, pleasantly situate in a sporting part of the Country.
1821 Sporting Mag. 9 27 A new white upper tog, that would have given a sporting appearance to a pink of Regent-street.
1897 M. Kingsley Trav. W. Afr. 617 Those very sporting vessels, the British and African, and the Royal African steamers.
1923 P. G. Wodehouse Inimitable Jeeves ix. 91 Will you give me a sporting two to one..that [etc.]?
1926 People's Home Jrnl. Feb. 31/1 Dick caught sight of a long, efficient car of the sporting roadster type.
1934 Times 30 Nov. 11/6 Not far away, in a lonely valley, the Grimmialp is situated with its magnificent and very sporting terrain.
2006 Dunoon Observer & Argyllshire Standard 7 July 22/2 A leather trimmed steering wheel..set a very sporting tone.
3. Of a person or animal: lively, playful; characterized by light or playful movement; sportive, frolicsome. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > playfulness > [adjective]
gamingOE
playfulc1225
gamefulc1275
gamelya1350
gamesomea1375
playable?c1475
frisky?a1500
sporting1549
sportful1577
toyish1577
toyful1580
sportive1593
gambol1600
sportly1600
sporting1607
playsome1612
jiggish1635
toysome1638
ludible1656
ludibund1668
good-humoured1682
flippant1711
lusory1711
gamp1737
kittenish1753
sportable1767
disportive1773
whisky1782
playward1878
1607 G. Markham Cavelarice iii. i. 4 If I haue Arte to make my horse..outmatch either wanton Kid, or sporting Faune.
1632 F. Quarles Divine Fancies ii. xlii. 81 How dares thy Bandog, Lord, presume..to devoure Thy sporting Lambs?
1725 W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey II. vi. 112 O'er the green mead the sporting virgins play.
1788 G. White Jrnl. 5 Nov. (1970) xxi. 320 Swarms of sporting gnats came streaming out from the tops of Ledges.
1856 C. Lanman Adventures Wilds U.S. I. 175 Another assembly of clouds, vieing, like sporting children, to outrun and overleap each other in their aerial amphitheatre.
1870 E. Cook Poet. Wks. 600 The bursting thorns and sporting lambs aroused my silent love.
1914 Washington Post 10 Mar. 4/5 A silver gilt ewer and cover, with vase shaped body repousse and chased with sporting dolphins in two panels.
1948 J. Haldane Trekking among Moroccan Tribes xvi. 119 Among the camels, bullocks, donkeys, bleating sheep and sporting calves,..boys with surplus energy sport and jink.
2000 Wicklow People 24 Aug. (TV Plus section) 9/5 It was no time at all before Lenny and Tony were sailing across a calm sea amid spectacular sunsets and accompanied by sporting dolphins.
4. Horticulture. Of a plant: that sports (sport v. 8b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > variety or species > [adjective] > producing mutations
sportive?1734
sporting1850
1850 Beck's Florist 211 We would recommend a trial of the seed from these sporting flowers.
1859 C. Darwin Origin of Species i. 9 ‘Sporting plants’; by this term gardeners mean a single bud or offset, which suddenly assumes a new and sometimes very different character from that of the rest of the plant.
1886 Field 6 Mar. 303/2 The sporting character of roses was as much observed at that time as now.
a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) II. 1012 The ‘sporting’ evening primrose, Oenothera lamarckiana, an American species, has given rise in Europe to numerous true-breeding ‘sports’ or mutations.
1990 Times (Nexis) 25 Aug. (Features section) Scottish gardens abound in Scotch roses, single or double colour mutations of the freely sporting burnet rose, Rosa pimpinellifolia.
Compounds
sporting chance n. colloquial (originally) an uncertain or doubtful likelihood (of success); (now chiefly) a reasonable but not certain chance; a fair opportunity.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > chance or causelessness > [noun] > chance or opportunity
chance1297
occasiona1382
opportunitya1387
fair play?a1500
main chance1577
venturea1625
opening1752
ettle1768
slant1837
sporting chance1897
open go1918
a fair crack of the whip1929
1897 M. Kingsley Trav. W. Afr. 252 One must diminish dead certainties to the level of sporting chances along here.
1913 Granta 7 Mar. 255/2 If bad shows are booked for this theatre the actors are not the people to be blamed; they are, naturally, trying to do their best—give them a sporting chance.
1977 M. Allen Spence in Petal Park xxxi. 146 All that rubbish they learnt on the rugger field about giving the other fellow a sporting chance... The world just doesn't work like that.
1999 R. Deakin Waterlog (2000) iv. 50 I felt sure that, in the right conditions and at the right moment.., I had a sporting chance of pulling off the Corryvreckan swim.
sporting girl n. (a) = sportswoman n.; (b) U.S. slang a prostitute.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > [noun] > sexual indulgence > unchaste behaviour of woman > unchaste or loose woman
queanOE
whorec1175
malkinc1275
wenchelc1300
ribalda1350
strumpeta1350
wench1362
filtha1375
parnelc1390
sinner14..
callet1415
slut?c1425
tickle-tailc1430
harlot?a1475
mignote1489
kittock?a1500
mulea1513
trulla1516
trully?1515
danta1529
miswoman1528
stewed whore1532
Tib1533
unchaghe1534
flag1535
Katy1535
jillet1541
yaud1545
housewife1546
trinkletc1550
whippet1550
Canace1551
filthy1553
Jezebel1558
kittyc1560
loonc1560
laced mutton1563
nymph1563
limmer1566
tomboy1566
Marian1567
mort1567
cockatrice1568
franion1571
blowze1573
rannell1573
rig1575
Kita1577
poplet1577
light-skirts1578
pucelle1578
harlotry1584
light o' lovea1586
driggle-draggle1588
wagtail1592
tub-tail1595
flirt-gill1597
minx1598
hilding1599
short-heels1599
bona-roba1600
flirt1600
Hiren1600
light-heels1602
roba1602
baggage1603
cousin1604
fricatrice1607
rumbelow1611
amorosa1615
jaya1616
open-taila1618
succubus1622
snaphancea1625
flap1631
buttered bun1638
puffkin1639
vizard1652
fallen woman1659
tomrigg1662
cunt1663
quaedama1670
jilt1672
crack1677
grass-girl1691
sporting girl1694
sportswoman1705
mobbed hood1707
brim1736
trollop1742
trub1746
demi-rep1749
gillyflower1757
lady of easy virtue1766
mot1773
chicken1782
gammerstang1788
buer1807
scarlet woman1816
blowen1819
fie-fie1820
shickster?1834
streel1842
charver1846
trolly1854
bad girl1855
amateur1862
anonyma1862
demi-virgin1864
pickup1871
chippy1885
wish-wife1886
tart1887
tartleta1890
flossy1893
fly girl1893
demi-mondaine1894
floozy1899
slattern1899
scrub1900
demi-vierge1908
cake1909
coozie1912
muff1914
tarty1918
yes-girl1920
radge1923
bike1945
puta1948
messer1951
cooze1955
jamette1965
skeezer1986
slutbag1987
chickenhead1988
ho1988
1694 W. Burnaby tr. T. P. Arbiter Satyr 60 Unhappy Mortal, that but now The lovely grace of Hair, did'st know... From sporting Girls, you'll frighted run, And that Death will the sooner come.
?1790 Dhooraling 2 The sporting girls take great delight, In his sweet company day and night.
1887 Daily Era (Bradford, Pa.) 10 Aug. She did not know the girl was virtuous... Believing that she was a sporting girl she made her a member of her bagino.
1951 E. Paul Springtime in Paris (U.K. ed.) iv. 89 The place Xavier Privas, where the former sporting girls and their male friends congregate.
2000 Tuam (County Galway) Herald & Western Advertiser 8 July 10/2 While the majority of the group shopped 'til they dropped some of the sporting girls headed for the Irish Open in Ballybunion.
sporting man n. = sportsman n. (in various senses); (also) †a person who fails to practise or exemplify the ideals of a particular sport; an inferior or mercenary sportsman (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > player or sportsperson > [noun] > inferior type of sportsperson
sporting man1742
scrubber1974
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > betting > [noun] > better
bettor1584
gripe1591
better1614
staker1648
wagerer1660
sporting man1742
betting-man1819
fielder1844
investor1850
backer1853
punter1860
layer1871
accumulator1889
1742 Genuine Acct. Six Malefactors (new ed.) 2/2 The first Step to his Ruin was frequenting the Bear-Garden..where he got acquainted with a noted Fellow.., who soon brought him among the Sporting-Men.
1852 R. S. Surtees Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour viii. xliv. 242 ‘Is he inclined to go the pace?’ ‘Oh, quite,’ replied Jack; ‘his great desire is to be thought a sportsman.’ ‘A sportsman, or a sporting man?’ asked Sponge.
1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 21 Oct. 6/1 Every sporting man is flattered if termed a sportsman, but it would be almost an insult to speak to a sportsman as a sporting man.
1996 M. Lally Cant be Wrong 22 My father was a sporting man. He played the ponies every day.
sporting parson n. a rural parson who participates in hunting, shooting, or fishing, esp. one (often as a type) who takes as much, if not more, interest in field sports as in pastoral matters.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > hunter > [noun]
huntc1000
huntera1325
cacherec1340
pricasourc1387
waithmanc1425
chaser1470
huntsman1567
pricker1575
Nimrod1623
venator1656
fieldmana1683
sportsman1699
coureur de bois1700
sporting parson1757
chasseur1796
jäger1823
shikari1827
venerer1845
hunting-man1859
gamer1887
hunterman1891
veldman1895
society > leisure > sport > player or sportsperson > [noun]
playerOE
player1440
sporter1531
gamester1562
sporteer1654
sportsman1699
matchmakera1704
sporter1742
sporting parson1757
gamesman1812
sport1873
sportsman1886
sportswoman1900
hearty1915
jockstrap1956
jock1963
jockstrapper1967
society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > parson > [noun] > sporting
sporting parson1757
1757 G. Colman Connoisseur (ed. 3) IV. Contents p. iii Letter from Mr. Village to Mr. Town, containing the character of Jack Quickest, a Sporting-Parson in the North.
1826 F. Reynolds Life & Times I. iii. 99 The family consisted of the Dowager Lady Grandison,..an old Irish Major—a sporting parson—the house apothecary—my father, my aunt, and myself.
1901 Daily Tel. 23 July 10/6 Those who imagined that the last ‘sporting parson’ had disappeared from the Church of England are quite mistaken.
1982 M. Young Elmhirsts of Dartington ii. 21 His mother..meant him to be a priest, not a sporting parson.., but a proper God-fearing priest.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
n.c1475
adj.c1475