sporran (sporan)

[ sport (sport), v. [ form. Ffor to sport hym a space, & speike with tho kynges. Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 7909. I shall sport myself with their pa ions above measure. B. Jonson, Cynthia's Revels, v. 3. 21. To represent by any kind of play. Now sporting on thy lyre the loves of youth. Dryden, tr. of Persius's Satires, vi. 9. 3. To display sportively or with ostentation; show off; show; exhibit. By-and-by, Captain Brown sported a bit of literature. Mrs. Gaskell , Cranford, i. must sport an opinion when he really had J. H. Newman. A man.. none to give. 4. To spend in display. [Australia.] The shallowest thick-skin of that barren sort, Who Pyramus presented, in their sport Forsook his scene and enter'd in a brake. Shak., M. N. D., iii. 2. 14. At the beginning of the 16th century the May sports in vogue were, besides a contest of archery, four pageants, - the Kingham, or election of a Lord and Lady of the May, otherwise called Summer King and Queen, the Morris Dance, the Hobby Horse, and the "Robin Hood." Child's Ballads, V., Int., p. xxvii. (b) Any out-of-door pastime, such as hunting, fishing, racing, or the various forms of athletic contests. Horse and chariots let us have, And to our sport . Madam, now shall ye see Our Roman hunting. Shak ., Tit. And., ii. 2. 19. 3. Jest, as opposed to earnest; mere pleasantry. IMG:content-1832.png:[blocks in formation] An author who should introduce such a sport of words upon the stage even in the comedy of our days would meet with small applause. W. Broome , Notes on Pope's Ody ey, ix. 432. Let Kate be chaste and Dian sportful. Shak., T. of the S., ii. 1. 263. 3. Tending to or causing mirth; amusing; gay; also, designed for amusement only; jesting; not serious. Though 't be a sportful combat, Yet in the trial much opinion dwells. Shak., T. and C., i. 3. 335. sportfully (sport'fül-i), adv . In a sportful man- ner; playfully; sportively; in jest. Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia, iii. sportfulne (sport'fül-nes), n. The state of being sportful. Donne , Letters, To Sir Henry Goodyere, xxvii. sporting (spor'ting), n. [Verbal n. of sport , v.] 1. A sport; a game; specifically, participation in horse-racing, sports of the field, etc.; sports collectively, with all the interests involved in them. When that these pleasant sport ings quite were done, The marque a me enger sent For his young daughter and his pretty smiling son. Patient Gri el (Child's Ballads, IV. 211). 2. In zoöl. and bot., spontaneous origination of new and singular characters; the appearance of a sport, or the a umption of that character by an individual animal or plant. See sport, v. i., 3, and n., 8. sporting (spor'ting), p. a. 1. Engaging or concerned in sport or diversion; specifically, interested in or practising field-sports: as, a sporting man. See sport, n., 9. The most famous sporting man of his time was Tregonwell Frampton, Esq., of More ton, Dor sets hire, "The Father of the Turf," who was keeper of her Majesty's running horses at Newmarket. J. Ashton , Social Life in Reign of Queen Anne, I. 306. 2. In bot . and zoöl . , a uming the character of a sport. See sport , n.; 8. Darwin , Var. of Animals and Plants, p. 413. - Sporting rifle. See rifle2. sporting-book (spor'ting-bük), n. A book in which bets, etc., are recorded. sporting-house (spor'ting-hous), n. A house frequented by sportsmen, betting men, gamblers, and the like. sportingly (spor'ting-li), adv. In a sportive manner; sportively; in jest. Hammond, Works, I. 193.