General Sports Vocabulary
Arena: (N) Another word for arena that you’re probably more familiar with is stadium. It’s a flat area that hosts (holds) sporting events like the Olympic Games, soccer and rugby games. It is circular (like a circle) in shape and surrounded by seats for fans to sit.
Amateur: (N/Adj) An amateur is a person who is not a professional or does not get paid for what they do.
Athlete: (N) A person who practices and competes in any sport.
Athletic: (Adj) A person who is athletic and is good at sports.
Athletics: (N) Athletics is the category for any track and field events, such as running (long and short distance), throwing the javelin, long jump etc.
Award: (V,N) Any kind of prize, like a certificate, medal or a trophy. To be awarded something means to be given a prize.
Beat: (V) To win against or defeat another player or team.
Captain: (N) The captain is the team leader.
Cheer on: (Phrasal V) To shout words of encouragement to your favorite team or player.
Coach: (N) A person who is responsible for teaching and training the athletes to improve their skills.
Compete: (V) To take part in a competition.
Court: (N) The rectangle area where games like tennis, basketball and badminton are played.
Course: (N) An area of land that is used for long running events like marathons, car racing and golf.
Defend: (V) Defense: (N) To try and stop the other team from scoring points or goals.
Draw: (N) When two teams finish a game with the same number of points/goals. (also called a tie)
Fan: (N) A supporter of a player, team or sport.
Field: (N) An area of grass that is used to play sports such as field hockey, rugby or soccer.
Gym: (N) The place where you can go and exercise on machines or the inside area where sports lessons are done at school.
Half-time: (N) The short break between the first and second half of the game.
League: (N) A group of sports clubs from one area that play against each other for the season to try and win the championship.
Medal: (N) A small circle piece of metal that can be gold for 1st place, silver for 2nd place and bronze for 3rd place.
Opponent: (N) The person that you compete or play against in a competition.
Pass: (V, N) To kick or throw the ball to another player in your team.
Physique: (N) The strength or shape of a person’s body.
Pitcher: (N) In baseball, the player who throws the ball from the pitcher’s mound to the batter.
Practice: (N, V) To continue training to improve the skill.
Professional: (N, Adj) To be paid money for the sport you do. Your sport is your job.
Record: (N) The best performance of goals, medals, speed etc. that has ever been measured in a country or the world.
Referee (Ref): (N) The person who makes the decisions during a game. A referee runs up and down the field/court (soccer) with the players, but an umpire makes the decisions from one position (e.g. tennis).
Rules: (N) The laws of the game.
Score: (N) The points that each team has during the game.
Serve: (V) To throw the ball up and hit it at the start of play (e.g. tennis and volleyball).
Shoot: (V) Shot (N) To hit, throw or kick the ball to try and score a goal or point (e.g. rugby and basketball).
Skill: (N) Skilled (Adj) To be able to do something well, to have talent.
Spectator: (N) The viewer or person who watches a sporting event.
Sportsmanship: (N) To have good or bad sportsmanship is your attitude and your respect for the other team or player when you win or lose a game.
Tackle: (V) To try and take the ball of the other team.
Teammate: (N) A member of your team.
Teamwork: (N) Working with your teammates to try and win.
Tournament: A number of games and competitions between a certain number of teams or players to win the championship.
Trainer: (N) Another word for a coach.
Train: (V) To practice.
Victory: (N) Winning a competition.
Whistle: (N) To blow the whistle (Phrase) The small tool that makes a sound that the referee or umpire blows during a game.
Specific Sports Vocabulary
Athletics
Athlete: person who is skilled in track and field events; a sportsperson.
Athletics: the sport of competing in track and field events.
Baton: a short stick or tube passed from runner to runner in a relay race.
Bell lap: the final lap in a distance race, signalled by the ringing of a bell.
Decathlon: a men's athletic competition combining 10 track and field events.
Discus: a heavy, thick-centered disk; the sport of throwing the discus.
False start: failed start of a race, usually caused by a runner moving forward before the starting gun is fired.
Field: an area of open land; events in athletics that involve throwing, jumping and vaulting.
Foul: an unfair or illegal act, e.g. foul throw, foul jump.
Hammer: a 16-pound metal ball attached to a wire for throwing in an athletic contest; the sport of throwing the hammer.
Heptathlon: a women's athletic competition combining 7 track and field events.
High jump: sport in which competitors jump over a bar that is raised until only one competitor can jump over it.
Hurdles: upright frames, normally placed in a series, that athletes jump over; a race over such frames.
Javelin: a lightweight, spear-like object; the sport of throwing the javelin.
Lane: each of a number of parallel strips marked on a running track for athletes to run along.
Lap: one circuit of, or one time around, a running track or a racetrack.
Long jump: an athletic event in which competitors jump as far as possible along the ground in one leap.
Marathon: a long-distance running race of 26 miles and 385 yards (42.195 km).
Middle-distance: a race distance of between 800 and 5,000 metres.
Pole-vault: an event in which competitors vault over a high bar with the aid of an extremely long, flexible pole used to give extra spring.
Relay: race between teams of runners in which each team member in turn covers part of the total distance.
Record: the best performance in a sporting event that has been officially measured and noted.
Shot put: an athletic contest in which a very heavy metal ball is thrown as far as possible.
Sprint: a short, fast race run over a distance of 400 metres or less.
Starting blocks: small rigid blocks for bracing a runner's feet at the start of a race.
Steeplechase: a running race in which competitors must clear hurdles and water jumps.
Track: a prepared circuit for athletes to run on; the sport of running on such a track.
Track and field: athletics events that take place on a running track and on a field often enclosed by the track.
Triple jump: an event in which competitors leap as far as possible by performing a hop, a step and a jump.
Basketball
Backboard: a board behind the basket, off which the ball may rebound.
Basket: a container used to hold or carry things; a net fixed on a hoop used as the goal.
Block: to stop the movement of an opponent, or stop an opponent's pass or shot.
Bounce: to rebound after hitting a surface.
Bounce pass: a pass that bounces off the floor before it reaches the receiver.
Chest pass: a two-handed pass thrown from chest height.
Double-dribbling: violation of dribbling the ball with two hands, or stopping and restarting the dribble.
Draft: the annual process by which NBA teams select local or foreign players for their teams.
Dribble: to bounce the ball repeatedly with one hand while running or walking.
Drive: A fast, strong dribble directly to the basket in an effort to score.
Exceed: to go beyond what is allowed.
Foul: a violation resulting from illegal contact with an opposing player.
Free throw: a free shot taken from the free throw line as the result of a foul.
Game clock: a scoreboard clock that shows the time remaining in each period of a game.
Guarding: following an opponent to stop him from driving, shooting or passing easily.
Hoop: the round metal rim from which a basketball net is suspended.
Jump shot: a shot taken while a player is jumping through the air.
Lay up: a shot taken close to the basket that is usually banked off the backboard and into the basket.
MVP: 'most valuable player' award, given to the best player in a game.
No-look pass: a pass thrown without looking towards the receiver.
Overhead pass: a pass thrown from over the head, to clear a defender or for added power.
Overtime: a five-minute extra period that is played when the game is tied after four quarters.
Personal foul: a foul that involves illegal physical contact such as blocking, charging, elbowing or holding.
Possesion: to be holding, or be in control of, the ball.
Rebound: get control of a ball that has come off the rim or backboard after a failed shot attempt.
Referees: officials who call violations and fouls, give penalties, signal field goals, and stop and start play.
Set shot: a shot taken with both feet on the floor in a set position.
Shoot: to throw the ball in an attempt to score a goal.
Shot clock: a clock that shows the amount of time a team has left to take a shot.
Slam dunk: a high jump shot in which the ball is thrust down through the hoop.
Subtitute: a player who comes into the game to replace a player on the court.
Technical foul: a foul called against a player or coach for unsportsmanlike conduct such as arguing with a referee.
Three-point line: a semi-circle painted on the court, from outside of which a successful shot earns three points.
Time-out: clock stoppage requested by a coach for a short meeting with the players.
Travelling: the violation of moving with the ball without dribbling correctly.
Turnover: a player loses the ball to a member of the other team without taking a shot.
Violation: an infraction of the rules.
Boxing
Block: use the hands, arms and shoulders to stop punches from landing on the face or body.
Blow: strike or hit; punch with a clenched fist.
Bout: organized fight in boxing or wrestling.
Clinch: lean on and hold one's opponent instead of fighting.
Combination: series of punches thrown in sequence.
Counterpunch: punch thrown after an opponent has thrown a punch.
Cross: a straight power punch thrown directly at the target.
Boxing gloves: protective padded coverings for the hands, usually made of leather.
Head-butt: foul of hitting an opponent with the head.
Holding: foul of preventing an opponent from punching by holding their arms against their body.
Hook: short sideways inside punch delivered with the elbow bent.
Jab: quick punch with the leading hand, straight from the chin to the target.
Knockdown: occurs when a boxer is hit and any part of his body, other than the feet, touches the floor.
Knockout: occurs when a boxer is hit hard and loses consciousness.
Promoter: company or person who finances and organizes a sporting or entertainment event.
Rabbit punch: illegal punch to the back of the head or neck which can damage the spinal cord.
Ring: raised square platform on which boxing matches are held.
Rounds: time periods in a boxing match for fighting, separated by one-minute breaks.
Southpaw: left handed fighter who jabs with the right hand and throws power punches with the left hand.
Split decision: occurs when two of the three judges score one boxer as the winner, while the third judge scores the other boxer as the winner.
Technical knockout: occurs when a fighter loses because a legal punch causes a cut, usually on his face, that stops the fight.
Unanimous decision: occurs when all three judges agree on who is the winner of a fight.
Upper cut: upward punch aimed at the jaw or the stomach.
Weight-in: pre-fight meeting for boxers to be weighed to make sure they are within their weight class limits.
Football (Soccer)
Assistant referee: official who runs one of two touchlines and advises the referee, esp. on offside decisions.
Corner kick: a free kick taken from one of the corners of the pitch.
Defender: a player whose main role is to prevent the opposition from scoring.
Dice: to deliberately fall over when tackled in order to deceive the referee into awarding a free kick,
Extra time: two periods of 15 minutes each played when a game ends in a draw after normal time.
Goal: an instance of kicking or heading the ball into the goal.
Goalkeeper: player whose role is to stop the ball from entering the goal, and the only player who can handle the ball in general play.
Goal line: the two shorter boundaries, one at each end of the pitch, on which the goals are placed.
Handball: a foul committed by touching the ball with a hand or an arm.
Offside: law requiring at least two defenders to be between an attacker and the goal line when the ball is passed to the attacker.
Pass: to kick or head the ball to another player on one's own team..
Penalty: a free kick from the penalty spot; see also penalty kick.
Red card: the most severe punishment given by a referee, in which the player is sent off the pitch.
Striker: a player whose role is to score goals.
Substitute: to replace one player with another player; also a player used to replace another.
Tackle: to challenge a player for the ball.
Tactical: relating to a carefully planned strategy to win.
Wall: a line of players forming a barrier to block a free kick taken near the penalty area.
Yellow card: a warning issued to a player for a serious foul, two of which result in a red card and sending off.
Tennis
Ace: a winning serve which the receiver fails to touch with his or her racket.
Advantage: a player who scores a point at 'deuce' has the advantage, meaning if they win the next point, they win the game.
Backhand: a stroke in which the ball is struck on the opposite side of the body to the racquet hand.
Ballperson: youngsters who collect balls from the court and give them to players as required.
Baseline: a line at each end of the court, marking the boundary of the playing area.
Break: to beat an opponent in a game in which the opponent is serving.
Break-point: a point which will result in a break of service if it's won by the receiver.
Crosscourt: a shot in which the ball is hit diagonally across the court.
Deuce: a score of 40-40, after which a player must win two consecutive points to win the game.
Double fault: two faults served in a row, resulting in the server losing the point.
Game: in scoring, a game is won by winning points, a set is won by winning games, and a match is won by winning sets.
Game point: a point that will end the game if it is won by the leading player.
Grand Slam: the four major tournaments; Wimbledon and the French, U.S. and Australian Opens.
Line judge: an official who judges whether or not shots land in the court.
Love: zero (this meaning is used in tennis only).
Match points: a point that will end the match if it is won by the leading player.
Serve: the shot that begins each point, in which the server hits the ball after tossing it into the air.
Set: in scoring, a player must win at least six games to win a set.
Tie breaker: a game format used to quickly finish a set that's tied at six games each.
Volley: a shot on which the ball is hit before it bounces.
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