tennis
TEH-nihs
Tennis (noun) means a sport in which two or four players hit a ball back and forth over a net using racquets. Example: “They played tennis every Saturday morning at the local club.”
noun
1
A sport in which two or four players hit a ball back and forth over a net using racquets.
"One of Naomi Osaka's sponsors has been forced to apologise after depicting the Japanese tennis star, who is half-Haitian, with pale skin in an advertisement."
— Justin McCurry, Naomi Osaka sponsor apologises for ‘whitewashing’ tennis star in ad (2019)
"They played tennis every Saturday morning at the local club."
"I need new shoes because my old ones are too worn for tennis."
"Rain stopped the tennis match, so the players waited under the covered stand."
How to use tennis
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishThe racquet-and-net sport played on a court, either singles or doubles.
Easily confused with
Common pairings
play tennis
tennis court
tennis racquet
Vocabulary Flow
Build your vocabulary from words like tennis.
Vocabulary Flow serves the next word, and the next — meaning, pronunciation and an example each time. Practice at your level, or learn English in your own language.
Start vocabulary practice
Word forms
- Plural
- tennises
- Third person singular
- tennises
- Past tense
- tennised
Fill the gap
Can you complete this real example?
They played _____ every Saturday morning at the local club.
Etymology
From Old French tenez ("hold!" or "take this!"), reportedly called out by the server before hitting the ball in an earlier version of the game.
Synonyms
View more →
lawn tennis
Rhymes for tennis
See all rhymes for tennis →Frequently asked questions
What does “tennis” mean?
The word “tennis” means a sport in which two or four players hit a ball back and forth over a net using racquets. In plain terms, the racquet-and-net sport played on a court, either singles or doubles.
How do you pronounce “tennis”?
“Tennis” is pronounced TEH-nihs (/ˈtɛnɪs/ in IPA).
How do you use “tennis” in a sentence?
Here is “tennis” used in a sentence: “They played tennis every Saturday morning at the local club.”
What part of speech is “tennis”?
“Tennis” is a noun.
Where does the word “tennis” come from?
The word “tennis” comes from Old French. From Old French tenez ("hold!" or "take this!"), reportedly called out by the server before hitting the ball in an earlier version of the game.
Is “tennis” a common word?
“Tennis” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A1 level.
What is the difference between "tennis" and "table tennis"?
Tennis is played on a large court, where players hit a ball over a net with racquets. Table tennis, or ping-pong, is played on a table using small paddles and a lightweight hollow ball. They are separate sports with different equipment and rules.
Do you say "play tennis" or "play the tennis"?
You say "play tennis," with no article. Like most sports, tennis takes no "the" — you "play tennis," "watch tennis," and go to a "tennis match."
What is the difference between "singles" and "doubles" in tennis?
In tennis, "singles" is a match between two individual players, one on each side of the net, while "doubles" is played by two pairs, with two players on each side. This reflects the game's two-player and four-player forms.
What words commonly go with "tennis"?
Common collocations include "tennis court," "tennis racquet," "tennis ball," "tennis match," and "tennis player." "Tennis" is also used before other nouns, as in "tennis shoes" and "tennis elbow."
Featured in
Vocabulary lists that include tennis:
