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Sports & Fitness vocabulary · Competition & Scoring

Match

Meaning in sports & fitness, with examples

/mætʃ/nounCore term

In sports & fitness, match means: A sports competition between two players or teams, such as a game of football, tennis or boxing, that ends with a result.

In Turkish: maç, karşılaşma, müsabaka

How it is used

Common in British English for football, tennis, rugby, cricket and combat sports. You play, win, lose or draw a match; there are home matches, away matches and friendly matches.

Example sentences

  1. We have an away match on Saturday, so the bus leaves at eight.

  2. She won the match in straight sets.

Common collocations

  • win a match
  • home match
  • away match
  • friendly match
  • match report
  • opponentThe person or team you are playing or competing against in a match, race or contest.
  • scoreTo win a point, goal or run in a game; as a noun, the number of points each side has, as in "The score is 2–1".
  • drawA result in which both teams or players finish with the same score, so neither wins; also the event that decides who plays whom.
  • refereeThe official who controls a match, makes sure the rules are followed and makes decisions such as fouls, penalties and cards.
  • tournamentA competition in which many players or teams take part in a series of matches or rounds, often ending with a final and a winner.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Competition & Scoring

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