noun

umpire

UHM-peye-uh

noun

An official who oversees a sports match and enforces its rules, such as in baseball, cricket, or tennis.

"The umpire signaled that the pitch was a strike."

"A cricket match usually has two umpires standing on the field."

A neutral person chosen to settle a dispute between two other parties.

"The two neighbors agreed to let a mutual friend umpire their disagreement over the fence line."

verb

To serve as the official who judges a game or a dispute.

"He has umpired professional baseball games for over a decade."

How to Use Umpire

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishThe neutral official who enforces the rules and makes final calls in a sports match or a dispute.

Common mistake

In tennis and some other sports, "umpire" and "referee" both exist with slightly different roles — don't assume they're always interchangeable across sports.

Common pairings

home plate umpire umpire a match the umpire's decision

Word Forms

umpired past tense, umpires plural, umpires singular

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Can you complete this real example?

The _____ signaled that the pitch was a strike.

Etymology

From a Middle English mishearing of "a noumper" as "an oumper" — the same kind of word-boundary shift that gave us "an apron" from "a napron." It ultimately traces to Old French nonper, "not equal," since an umpire is the odd, tie-breaking third party.

Rhymes for umpire

ire fire wire tire lire dire hire mire sire afire Zaire spire

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