Game

[A. S. gamen, joy, pleasure; - allied to Gr. komos, a revel, a merry-making.) The term applied to certain bodily exercises and mental recreations practised as a relaxation from busine or study, or employed as a mode of pa ing the time. They are divided naturally into two cla es, mental and physical, but more definitely fond of these beast-fights, and very large numbers of animals were engaged in them. Under Pompey, no le than 600 lions were thus destroyed; and under Titus, 5,000 wild and 4,000 tame animals perished in a similar manner. There is no doubt that, although these latter exhibitions produced a debasing effect upon the minds of the beholders, the athletic games of the ancients not only improved the physical development of the people, but tended directly to advance their intellectual and moral culture. The early and long training by which they were preceded, and the exercises through which the child, the youth, and the man were conducted by succe ive stages, culminated at length in that union of beauty and strength in which physical perfection consists, and in which the ancient Greeks surpa ed every other known nation. Game, v. n. [A.S. gamenian.] To play at any sport or diversion. -To play for a stake or prize. -To practise playing for a valuable stake; to gamble. -a. Brave; resolute; courageous; as, game to the last. -Pertaining to such animals as are pursued or taken in the chase; - also to birds shot in battues. they are distinguished as games of chance , games of skill , Game'-cock, n. A cock bred or used to fight. and mized games . In the first cla the result does not Game'-egg, n. An egg from which a game-cock is bred. depend upon the attention and dexterity of the player, but is merely determined by chance; it includes games played with dice alone, such as hazard , and many of the games played with cards, such as quinze , vingt - et - un , lansquenet, commerce, loo, . The second cla comprehends those games which, when once begun, are independent of chance, and are gained by the superior skill and experience of one party. In many games of this kind, however, when the skill of the parties is equal, he who plays first is most frequently the winner. There are very few mental games of this cla ; but che and draughts hold the highest places. It includes several interesting and popular physical games; among others, cricket , base - ball , bowling, golf , tennis , billiards , . In the third cla the games are generally decided by chance where the players are equal, but otherwise depend much for their event on the skill and caution of the players; among the most important of these are whist , cribbage , piquet , euchre, casino, all - fours , and backgammon. -Jest, as opposed to seriousne . ""Twixt earnest and 'twixt game."-Spenser. -Insolent merriment; sportive insult. "Or make a game of my calamities."- Milton . -An exercise or play for amusement or for winning a stake; as, a game of skill, a game of hazard.-Advantage at play; as, to win the game , i. e., the stake. "Whose game was empires, and whose stakes were thrones." Byron. -Scheme pursued; measures planned. "The present game of that crowd."- Temple . -Field-sports; the chase; falconry, . "Some sportsmen, that were abroad upon game."-L'Estrange. Animals pursued or taken in the chase, or in the sports of the field. "At human hearts we fling, nor ever mi the game."- Prior . Public Games of Antiquity. (Hist.) Under this name are generally included the contests and spectacles of varied kinds celebrated by the ancients, which, in the earlier ages, were connected with religious ceremonials. The public games of the Greeks were very numerous, and the origin of many of them is lost, on account of the religious mystery in which they were founded. Among the Grecian games, the most celebrated were the Olym pic , the Pythian , the Nemean , and the Isthmian. The conquerors in the Olympic games were held in high respect, and were looked upon as the noblest and happiest of men. These games were held every 5 years at Olympia, in Elis, on the W. side of the Peloponnesus. Among the exercises, some were designed to give strength, and others agility. The lighter exercises comprised running, leaping, throwing the quoit, and hurling the javelin. The more severe course of discipline included wrestling and boxing. Racing also constituted a particular feature in all the ancient games. The Isthmian games were held at Corinth, and, together with athletic exercises, horse and chariot races, constituted a large portion of the spectacle. Originally these games were connected with the worship of Neptune, the wide diffusion of which gained for them the great celebrity which they long en "Thus boys hatch game-eggs under birds of prey, To make the fowls more furious for the fray."- Garth.