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  1. golf love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. A game played on a large outdoor course with a series of 9 or 18 holes spaced far apart, the object being to propel a small, hard ball with the use of various clubs into each hole with as few strokes as possible.
  2. v. To play this game.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. A game played over an extensive stretch of ground in which holes about 4 inches in diameter are placed at distances from 100 to 500 yards apart. It is played by one or two on a side, with special implements called clubs, and with balls of guttapercha weighing l¾oz., or a little less. The object is to drive the ball from each hole to and into the next; and the hole or the round (usually of 9 or 18 holes) is won by the player or side that accomplishes this in the fewest strokes. A considerable variety of clubs is used (the driver, spoon, cleek, niblick, putter, etc.), according to the exigencies of the game. Golf had its birth on the grass-covered sandy downs or “links” of the seaboard of Scotland, but is now extensively played in England and in the United States.
  2. To play at golf.

Wiktionary

  1. n. sports A ball game played by individuals competing against one another in which the object is to hit a ball into each of a series of (usually 18 or nine) holes in the minimum number of strokes.
  2. n. The letter G in the ICAO spelling alphabet.
  3. v. To play golf.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. Scot. A game played with a small ball and a bat or club crooked at the lower end. He who drives the ball into each of a series of small holes in the ground and brings it into the last hole with the fewest strokes is the winner.
  2. v. To play at golf.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. a game played on a large open course with 9 or 18 holes; the object is use as few strokes as possible in playing all the holes
  2. v. play golf

Etymologies

  1. The word is first known in English from the 15th century from Scots. Although the etymology is uncertain, the most likely origin is that it comes from the Middle Dutch colve or colf ("club"). (Wiktionary)
  2. Middle English. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

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hypernyms (1)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. play

same context (22)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. tennis
  2. baseball
  3. ski
  4. volleyball
  1. chess
  2. archery
  3. cricket
  4. polo
  1. croquet
  2. gymnastic
  3. athletic
  4. bicycle
  1. golfing
  2. sport
  3. boating
  4. yachting
  1. photography
  2. poker
  3. jog
  4. billiards
  1. swim
  2. racquetball

reverse dictionary (214)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. links
  2. stimy
  3. niblick
  4. baffy-spoon
  5. mulligan
  6. duffer
  7. miniature golf
  8. explosion
  9. slice
  10. club
  11. golfcart
  12. golf bag
  13. golfclub
  14. hook
  15. match play
  16. medal play
  17. sclaff
  18. putt
  19. approach
  20. teeoff
  21. downswing
  22. round
  23. draw
  24. professional golf
  25. putting
  26. round of golf
  27. slicing
  28. stroke play
  29. fade
  30. drive
  31. hooking
  32. shank
  33. approach shot
  34. clock golf
  35. driving
  36. tee
  37. putter
  38. driver
  39. william benjamin hogan
  40. medalist
  41. dogleg
  42. golf ball
  1. pin
  2. professional golfer
  3. Sarazen
  4. Jones
  5. flag
  6. gene sarazen
  7. golf glove
  8. golf links
  9. golf pro
  10. golf tee
  11. medal winner
  12. medallist
  13. ben hogan
  14. hacker
  15. hogan
  16. golf-ball
  17. lofting-iron
  18. link
  19. goff
  20. clock-golf
  21. golf course
  22. par
  23. scorecard
  24. stroke
  25. swing
  26. whip
  27. golf shot
  28. golf stroke
  29. loft
  30. card
  31. wedge
  32. green
  33. golf
  34. jigger
  35. fairway
  36. mashie
  37. cut
  38. divot
  39. country club
  40. hole
  41. cleek
  42. caddie
  1. golfer
  2. golfing
  3. cupped
  4. dormy
  5. drive-off
  6. driving-cleik
  7. driving-iron
  8. driving-mashie
  9. driving-putter
  10. fore-caddie
  11. founder
  12. foursome
  13. gobble
  14. golf-croquet
  15. grassed
  16. green-keeper
  17. gutty
  18. half-iron
  19. half-shot
  20. hazard
  21. honor
  22. juke-neckit
  23. like
  24. lively
  25. long-spoon
  26. mashy
  27. mashy-niblick
  28. midiron
  29. music
  30. nose
  31. petanelle
  32. pitch
  33. press
  34. quarter-shot
  35. rind
  36. runner-up
  37. sand-iron
  38. scare
  39. sclaffy
  40. short-spoon
  41. sky
  42. sole
  1. stance
  2. stroke-hole
  3. teeing-ground
  4. tee-shot
  5. threesome
  6. twosome
  7. underclub
  8. upright
  9. whipping
  10. bunker
  11. stymie
  12. back-spin
  13. Bisk
  14. bobble
  15. bolt
  16. brassy
  17. brassy-cleik
  18. brassy-niblick
  19. brassy-spoon
  20. break-club
  21. bulger
  22. bulger-driver
  23. caddie-bag
  24. carry
  25. colonel bogie
  26. cop
  27. gutta-percha
  28. sand trap
  29. Whitworth
  30. clubface
  31. putting green
  32. baff
  33. bonspiel
  34. cleik
  35. duff
  36. LPGA
  37. fifty
  38. overplay
  39. Prestwick
  40. Saint Andrews
  41. foozle
  42. squarely
  1. overhit
  2. bent grass
  3. time
  4. halve
  5. yips
  6. wood shot
  7. Augusta
  8. short game
  9. pro-am
  10. pitching niblick
  11. long game
  12. hole in one
  13. front nine
  14. subpar
  15. back nine
  16. best-ball
  17. globe
  18. golf-links
  19. heel
  20. teeing ground
  21. greenskeeper
  22. gimme
  23. hosel
  24. Zaharias
  25. invitational
  26. balata
  27. Lopez
  28. birdie
  29. brassie
  30. dormie
  31. mashie niblick
  32. golf club
  33. flagstick
  34. forecaddie
  35. close
  36. self-propelled
  37. play
  38. open
  39. good
  40. lay
  41. up
  42. shoot
  1. lie
  2. lift
  3. scratch
  4. classic

tags (6)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. sport
  1. red
  1. backronym
  1. kat
  1. rhymeless
  1. cvcc

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tagging (11)

Words tagged ‘golf’

  1. Bombay Golf Club
  2. Callaway
  1. Carnoustie
  2. baffy
  1. baffy-spoon
  2. duffer
  1. links
  2. mulligan
  1. niblick
  2. stimy
  1. up to par

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Lists

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Comments

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  • bilby Balls of guttapercha! Jul 1, 2012

  • hernesheir "To move forward with violence." --Dr. Jamieson's Scottish Dictionary and Supplement, 1841. A game, Jamieson notes, that is played with a goif-baw.

    I hope this definition contributes to the discussion that appears in the thread of previous comments about this word. May 19, 2011

  • marky anyone care to transcribe this? how to hit a golfball (lol) Nov 7, 2010

  • pterodactyl That's my tag, and I'm sticking to it. Golf and wolf don't rhyme, and Rolf doesn't count, because... because it doesn't have a flag. No flag, no rhymic recognition. You can't have it! That's the rule that I've just made up. And I'm backing it up with this gun that was lent from the National Rifle Association... Sep 7, 2009

  • bilby Don't cry rhymeless, cry wolf! Sep 6, 2009

  • vanishedone Whoever tagged this rhymeless presumably wasn't called Rolf. Sep 6, 2009

  • bilby Dontcry, the Robin Williams routine is viewable now. Feb 5, 2009

  • benny4words indeed, the idea that golf is an acronym for 'gentlemen only, ladies forbidden'is a folk etymology. The most likley origin of the word is from the middle dutch verb, 'colf' meaning club.
    My neighbour told me golf was an acronym, and being a fan of Q.I. i wikied to see if he was right. :) Feb 5, 2009

  • chained_bear Well, okay, he can be a little prick, but I hate golf, and I like this quote. :)

    yarb: thanks for that lovely monovocalic verb! I missed that one... Jan 24, 2009

  • sionnach What do they cover the gold with, bray? Platinum?

    I tried to read a book of essays by Joseph Epstein once. But his smug, self-satisfied, pompous, mean-spirited, score-settling narcissism proved too much of a deterrent. He really is a nasty little man - the kind of guy who scores off others by commenting publicly about their physical attributes (e.g. ridiculing his former boss because he had difficulty passing the mandatory swim test at Columbia).

    I came away with a deep loathing for the little prick. Jan 24, 2009

  • yarb Of course, although the only reason he can make tons of money out of it is that millions of dopes pay to watch him swinging and (mostly) sauntering, live and on TV and buy the associated branded goods. I've even heard gold covered live on the radio, WTF! Jan 23, 2009

  • jennarenn Being good at something and making tons of money ususally helps increase one's enjoyment of the activity. I can see why Tiger would like it. Jan 23, 2009

  • yarb I'm not Jewish but I can't stand golf. I can see why some people might enjoy playing it - people of a plodding, anal cast of mind, and brown-nosing networkers - but the reason for its all-engolfing popularity evades me, and the very idea of golf as a spectator sport stupefies me utterly. Darts on the other hand, makes perfect sense to me.

    n.b. I don't think that kind of thing should ever be a private note, c_b. If you have similar spangles hidden beneath bushels, pray set about disinvisibilizing them. Jan 23, 2009

  • chained_bear I was going to leave this as a private note so as not to disturb other Wordizens, but I thought someone might find it interesting.

    "There is something deeply trivial about golf that is unseemly for Jews, who have traditionally been accustomed to taking themselves seriously. Whacking away at a little ball, hoping, at the end of four hours' effort, to arrive at the finish a stroke or two fewer than the previous time one wasted a morning at this game—no, no, no, I'm sorry, but this is all wrong for Jews. Our grandfathers and great-grandfathers didn't undergo pogroms and the struggle to evade conscription in the tsar's army to come to America for their descendants to put on peach-colored pants, spiked Nike shoes and chemises Lacoste to appear on the first tee promptly at 8 a.m. A Jew should be studying, thinking, working, making money, contemplating why God has put him through so many trials. A phrase like 'dogleg to the left' should never cross his lips. If Bernie Madoff's depredations will bring a few Jews in off the links, perhaps that is not entirely a bad thing."
    —Joseph Epstein, "'Uncle Bernie' and the Jews," Newsweek, January 19, 2009

    Full article is here. Jan 23, 2009

  • BrainyBabe Golf, though it has many merits as a game, has few as a religion. -- ''Yashima, or, The Gorgeous West'' by R T Sherwood, 1931. Dec 23, 2008

  • dontcry If anyone has a link to the Robin Williams stand-up routine on golf, please post it here. It's HI-larious! Nov 17, 2008

  • reesetee Heehee! Nov 17, 2008

  • bilby Ha! Nov 17, 2008

  • chained_bear I saw a good golf joke (and that is saying something!) here. (Thanks for the link, Pro!)

    A couple met at Hilton Head and fell in love. They were discussing how they would continue the relationship after their vacations were over. "It's only fair to warn you, Jody, I'm a golf nut. I live, eat, sleep and breathe golf."
    "Well, since you're being honest, so will I," she said. "I'm a hooker."
    "I see," said Bill as he thought for a moment. "Well, it's probably because you're not keeping your wrists straight when you hit the ball." Nov 17, 2008

  • bilby Flo, gin is a sin. I golf. Oct 18, 2008

  • amun.x for sale. 74k on clock. 3 owners. tax and tested. 1400 ono.. Sep 22, 2008

  • oroboros "Flog" in reverse. Which is what the majority of golfers do! They flog the ground with their clubs and flog themselves as idiots for their errant ballflights or missing a tap-in putt. Jul 10, 2007

  • sionnach sometimes said to be derived as an acronym for 'gentlemen only, ladies forbidden', a very doubtful claim. Feb 14, 2007

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‘golf’ has been looked up 2924 times, added to 27 lists, commented on 23 times, and has a Scrabble score of 8.