What does "tennis" mean?
Tennis: A play in which a ball is driven to and fro, or kept in motion by striking it with a racket or with the open hand. Shak. His easy bow, his good stories, his style of dancing and playing tennis, . . . were familiar to all London. Macaulay. Court tennis, the old game of tennis as played within walled courts of peculiar construction; -- distinguished from lawn tennis. -- Lawn tennis. See under Lawn, n. -- Tennis court, a place or court for playing the game of tennis. Shak.
Additional senses
- 2.To drive backward and forward, as a ball in playing tennis. [R.] Spenser.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00