word example sentence meaning

word example sentence meaning

bare-knuckled Bare-knuckled fighting without protective gloves

was popular until the
nineteenth century.

block He could block most of use the hands, arms and

the punches, but some shoulders to stop punches
got through and hit his from landing on the face or
face. body

blow A blow to the stomach can strike or hit; punch with a

make it difficult to breathe. clenched fist

bout Mike had his first bout in organized fight in boxing or

professional boxing when wrestling
he was sixteen.

clinch Both fighters were tired lean on and hold one's

and clinching too much, opponent instead of fighting
so the referee told them to
"break".

combination His best combination was series of punches thrown in

a left jab followed by a sequence
right cross, and then a left
hook.
word example sentence meaning

counterpunch After throwing a right punch thrown after an

hook, he left himself open opponent has thrown a punch
and got hit by a strong
counterpunch.

cross An orthodox boxer usually a straight power punch thrown

throws a cross with his directly at the target
stronger right arm.

fist He raised his arms and tightly closed hand with the
held his fists in front of his fingers bent in towards the
face to protect himself. palm

foul The referee warned Mike unfair act or un-sportsmanlike

after he threw another foul conduct
punch.

gloves / boxing Boxing gloves help to protective padded coverings

gloves prevent damage to the for the hands, usually made of
hands, especially the leather
knuckles.

head-butt The referee stopped the foul of hitting an opponent with

fight after a head-butt the head
opened a cut over Ali's left
eye.
word example sentence meaning

holding After warning Joe for foul of preventing an opponent

holding several times, the from punching by holding their
referee deducted points. arms against their body

hook He finished the short sideways inside punch

combination with a right delivered with the elbow bent
hook to the jaw.

jab Fighters use the jab to quick punch with the leading
earn points, but it's not a hand, straight from the chin to
powerful punch. the target

kidney punch Referees disqualify illegal blow to the lower back

fighters who use kidney which can damage the kidneys
punches to hurt their
opponent.

knockdown A referee usually starts an occurs when a boxer is hit and

eight count after a any part of his body, other than
knockdown. the feet, touches the floor

knockout / KO He has won seventeen occurs when a boxer is hit hard

fights, thirteen of them by and loses consciousness
knockout.

low blow The referee stopped the foul blow to the area below the
word example sentence meaning

fight to let Harada recover stomach, including the genitals

from a low blow.

match Our son won his first an organized contest between

boxing match last night, people or teams
and we're very proud of
him.

neutral corner He went to the neutral corner of the ring a boxer must
corner and waited for his go to after knocking down an
opponent to get up off the opponent
floor.

parry He stood on the ropes fend off punches with the

with his gloves up, gloves
parrying the punches as
they came.

promoter The fighters said the company or person who

promoter didn't pay them finances and organizes a
as much as he said he sporting or entertainment event
would.

punch People say he can't take a strike with a clenched fist

good punch, and is easily
knocked out.
word example sentence meaning

rabbit punch Dirty fighters try to hurt illegal punch to the back of the
their opponents with head or neck which can
illegal blows like rabbit damage the spinal cord
punches.

ring The fighters climbed raised square platform on

through the ropes and into which boxing matches are held
the ring.

ropes Ali would stay on the lengths of strong cord

ropes and wait for his enclosing a boxing ring
opponent to wear himself
out.

rounds In men's boxing rounds time periods in a boxing match

last for three minutes, but for fighting, separated by one-
in women's boxing they minute breaks
last for two minutes.

southpaw Good boxers know how to left handed fighter who jabs
deal with any opponent, with the right hand and throws
including unorthodox power punches with the left
fighters like southpaws. hand

split decision It was a close fight, and occurs when two of the three
the winner won it on a judges score one boxer as the
split decision. winner, while the third judge
scores the other boxer as the
word example sentence meaning

winner

standing eight The referee checked the occurs when a boxer looks hurt
count fighter during the standing and the referee stops the fight
eight count, and then let and counts to eight to see if he
him continue. can continue

sucker punch I was hurt by a sucker unexpected punch that catches

punch that got me in the a boxer by surprise
stomach when I wasn't
looking.

technical Robert says he would occurs when a fighter loses

knockout / have won the fight if it because a legal punch causes
TKO hadn't been stopped on a a cut, usually on his face, that
technical knockout. stops the fight

unanimous He won the fight easily occurs when all three judges
decision and got a unanimous agree on who is the winner of
decision from the judges. a fight

upper cut My best punch was an upward punch aimed at the jaw
upper cut that hit him on or the stomach
the jaw and nearly
knocked him out.
word example sentence meaning

weight classes Boxers sometimes move competition divisions based on

to a different weight class, weight, such as "heavyweight"
often to a heavier one.

weigh-in The boxers tried to upset pre-fight meeting for boxers to

each other with insults at be weighed to make sure they
the weigh-in before the are within their weight class
fight. limits

Tennis

word example sentence meaning

ace Andy won the match by a winning serve which the

serving a beautiful ace that receiver fails to touch with
was almost impossible to his or her racket
return.

advantage With the score at deuce, a player who scores a point

Roger returned serve with a at 'deuce' has
winner and the umpire the advantage, meaning if
announced, 'Advantage they win the next point, they
Federer'. win the game
word example sentence meaning

backhand If your opponent is right- a stroke in which the ball is

handed and has a weak struck on the opposite side
backhand, hit the ball to his of the body to the racquet
left if you can. hand

ballperson When I was young I was a youngsters who collect balls

ballboy/girl/kid 'ballboy', and my son does from the court and give them
the same job now, but he's a to players as required
'ballperson'.

baseline If a player's foot touches the a line at each end of the

baseline while serving, the court, marking the boundary
serve is a foot-fault. of the playing area

break I got off to good start by to beat an opponent in a

breaking my opponent's game in which the opponent
serve in the first game of the is serving
match.

break point The score is 30-40, so this a point which will result in a
point is a break point and if break of service if it's won by
he wins it, he wins the game. the receiver

crosscourt Rafael played a beautiful a shot in which the ball is hit

crosscourt volley to win the diagonally across the court
match.
word example sentence meaning

deuce The word deuce was used a score of 40-40, after which
in real tennis for hundreds of a player must win two
years before the modern consecutive points to win the
game developed. game

double fault After serving a fault I was two faults served in a row,
worried about serving a resulting in the server losing
double fault, so my second the point
serve was much slower.

doubles In a game of doubles, the format in which players play

outer line down each side of in teams of two
the court acts as the
boundary.

drop shot Serena played a perfect drop a gentle shot that just drops
shot that just got over the net over the net
and landed about one foot
from it.

fault Maria tried to hit her serve a missed serve, served into
too hard and it missed the the net or served outside the
court and was a fault. correct service box

forehand Chris has a very strong a shot hit from the racket-
forehand, so his opponents arm side of the body
play to his backhand more.
word example sentence meaning

game Venus won the match by two in scoring, a game is won by

sets to one, and she won winning points, a set is won
both sets by six games to by winning games, and a
four. match is won by winning
sets

game point When the score gets to game a point that will end the
point, players often get game if it is won by the
nervous and make simple leading player
mistakes.

Grand Slam A career Grand Slam means the four major tournaments;
a player has won each Grand Wimbledon and the French,
Slam tournament at least U.S. and Australian Opens
once in their career.

groundstroke Nadal is strong and he uses a shot hit from the back
powerful groundstokes to court after the ball has
keep his opponents on the bounced; the standard shot
run. in tennis

let The umpire heard the serve a shot that must be

clip the net as it went over, so replayed, such as a serve
she called a let. that touches the net

line judge The line judge said the ball an official who judges
was in, but the umpire whether or not shots land in
overruled him and called it
word example sentence meaning

out. the court

lob Her lob flew high into the air a shot that is hit in a high
and dropped into the back of arc, usually over the
the court, just inside the opponent's head
baseline.

love After starting his service zero (this meaning is used in

game with a double fault, the tennis only)
score is love-fifteen.

match point Ana had her first three match a point that will end the
points saved, but she won match if it is won by the
the fourth. leading player

mixed Is there a competition for doubles format in which

doubles mixed doubles in Tennis in each team is made up of
the Olympic Games? one female and one male
player

net At the end of the match, the the woven barrier dividing a
players jogged to the net and court into halves, over which
shook hands. the ball must be hit

racket / Rackets used to be made of a stringed 'bat' that players

racquet wood, but now they're made hold and use to hit the ball
of materials like carbon fibre
word example sentence meaning

and titanium.

rally The longest rally in the match a long series of shots

went on for 22 shots before a
winner was hit.

receiver Most receivers stand behind the player receiving serves

the baseline when they're
waiting for a serve.

return Rafael's serve was good, but to hit a shot back to the
Roger's return was even opponent
better and he won the point.

serve Andy Roddick wins many the shot that begins each
points with his powerful point, in which the server
serve. hits the ball after tossing it
into the air

set Elena won the first set, but in scoring, a player must win
Maria took the next two sets at least six
to win the match. games to win a set

set point Even top players get tense or a point that, if won by the
'tight' on set points. leading player, will win him
or her the game and the set
word example sentence meaning

tiebreaker In a tiebreaker, the winner is a game format used to

the first player with at least quickly finish a set that's tied
seven points, and a two-point at six games each
lead.

umpire The umpire sits in a tall chair the official who is in overall
at the side of the court, near charge of a match
the net.

volley Volleys can be hard to control a shot on which the ball is hit
if there's a lot of spin on the before it bounces
ball.

Football Vocabulary List

word example sentence meaning

assistant Assistant referees used to official who runs one of two

referee be called 'linesmen', but the touchlines and advises the
term was changed in 1996. referee, esp. on offside
decisions

corner kick The referee awarded a a free kick taken from one of the
corner kick after the corners of the pitch
word example sentence meaning

goalkeeper tipped the ball

over the bar.

defender Defenders include left a player whose main role is to

backs, right backs and prevent the opposition from
central defenders. scoring

dive Many people see diving as to deliberately fall over when

a form of cheating and think tackled in order to deceive the
players who dive should be referee into awarding a free kick
sent off.

draw The game ended in a draw, finish a game with an even

with each team having score; tie
scored two goals.

extra time We won the game by two periods of 15 minutes each

scoring the only goal in played when a game ends in a
extra time. draw after normal time

foul The referee blew his an illegal action punishable by a

whistle and gave a penalty free kick
kick for a foul in the penalty
area.

goal Manchester United beat an instance of kicking or

Chelsea by three goals to
word example sentence meaning

one. heading the ball into the goal

goalkeeper The goalkeeper tried to player whose role is to stop the

stop the penalty kick by ball from entering the goal, and
diving to his left, but the the only player who can handle
penalty taker kicked the ball the ball in general play
past him and scored.

goal line The referee thought a the two shorter boundaries, one
defender was the last at each end of the pitch, on
player to touch the ball which the goals are placed
before it went over the goal
line, and awarded a corner
kick.

handball The ball hit Mark on the a foul committed by touching the
arm and the referee ball with a hand or an arm
awarded a free kick to his
opponents for handball.

league The Spanish Football a group of sports clubs that play

League, known as 'La Liga', each other over a period for a
includes famous clubs like championship e.g. English
Real Madrid and Premiership League
Barcelona.

offside The assistant referee law requiring at least two

raised his flag to indicate to defenders to be between an
the referee that one of the attacker and the goal line when
word example sentence
forward players was in an
offside position.
pass David saw a teammate and
passed the ball to him.
penalty Our defender tackled their
striker in the penalty box,
but the referee thought it
was a foul and gave them a
penalty.
penalty area The tackle was just outside
the penalty area, but the
referee thought it was
inside the area and gave
them a penalty.
penalty kick Their best striker took the
penalty kick, but our
goalkeeper blocked his
shot and they didn't score
the goal.
penalty Our team won the penalty
shootout shootout by four goals to
three, and we were the new
meaning
the ball is passed to the attacker
to kick or head the ball to
another player on one's own
team.
a free kick from the penalty
spot; see also penalty kick
area near each goal in which
the goalkeeper may handle the
ball, and a foul is punished by a
penalty kick (also; penalty box)
a direct free kick taken from the
penalty spot, awarded for a foul
committed in the penalty area
a best-of-five penalty kick
contest held to find a winner
when a game is still tied after
word example sentence meaning

champions. extra time

penalty spot I felt very nervous as I put a white mark in the penalty area
the ball on the penalty spot from which penalty kicks are
and stepped back to take taken
the kick.

pitch It had rained all morning, so the playing field

the pitch was soft and
muddy and difficult to run
on.

professional David Beckham became a doing something, like playing

professional player at 17 sport or music, as a career or
when he signed a contract occupation
with Manchester United.

red card The referee had already
given Lee a yellow card, so
when he committed another
foul he was given a red
card and sent off.
the most severe punishment
given by a referee, in which the
player is sent off the pitch

shoot Ronaldo took the free kick to try to score a goal

and scored a great goal by
shooting over the wall.
word example sentence
striker We're not scoring enough
goals, so our manager
wants to get a new striker.
substitute They were losing by a goal
with ten minutes to go, so
the manager decided to
substitute one of his
defenders with a forward.
tackle One of the defenders
tackled David and kicked
the ball out of play.
tactical They were losing, so the
manager made tactical
substitutions and replaced
two defenders with more
attacking players.
throw in After Joe kicked the ball
out, one of the other team's
players threw it in with a
long throw into the penalty
box.
touchline The manager stood on the
touchline shouting
meaning
a player whose role is to score
goals
to replace one player with
another player; also a player
used to replace another
to challenge a player for the ball
relating to a carefully planned
strategy to win
to put the ball back into play
after it has crossed the touchline
by throwing it, usually to a
teammate
the two long boundaries along
each side of the
word example sentence meaning

instructions to his players. pitch; also sideline

wall The defenders formed a a line of players forming a

wall to block the free kick, barrier to block a free kick taken
and the referee pushed near the penalty area
them back ten metres.

yellow card If Jose gets another yellow a warning issued to a player for
card, he'll miss the next a serious foul, two of which
match. result in a red card and sending
off