athlete

noun

ath·lete | \ ˈath-ˌlēt

, nonstandard ˈa-thə-ˌlēt

Definition of athlete

1 : a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina

2 : an animal (such as a horse or a dog) that competes in races or other sporting events or has qualities (such a stamina and agility) suggestive of a human athlete Hospice working dogs were wiry, muscular, agile, yellowish-tan or brown athletes with unexaggerated heads …— Deborah Lawson

Examples of athlete in a Sentence

Athletes from around the world will be competing at the Olympics. She was quite an athlete as a child.

Recent Examples on the Web

After all, there are so many Muslim women activists, politicians, athletes, models, innovators, creatives, and more breaking barriers, fighting for change, and creating incredible pieces of art. — Shammara Lawrence, Allure, "What MuslimGirl's Amani Al-Khatahtbeh Wants to See From the Beauty Industry in 2019," 27 Mar. 2019 Both were star athletes: Elisabeth played softball and Tim was on the college's football team. — Amanda Garrity, Good Housekeeping, "A Glance at Elisabeth Hasselbeck's Life With Her Husband Tim and Their 3 Kids," 26 Mar. 2019 Sandbags are an old-school weight training tool still used today, by niche groups like the Navy SEALS and CrossFit athletes, and in various group fitness classes. — Jenny Mccoy, SELF, "What Is the Bulgarian Bag? All About Halle Berry’s New Favorite Strength Training Tool," 6 Mar. 2019 Brain These images are from a 2013 study in the journal Brain, which assessed 85 brains donated from former athletes, veterans, and people with a history of brain injury. — Brian Resnick, Vox, "What a lifetime of playing football can do to the human brain," 4 Feb. 2019 North Korea sent a delegation of athletes, cheerleaders, art troupe members and officials to Pyeongchang for the Olympics. — Katherine Lam, Fox News, "Trump warns 'world is watching' after North Korea says it's willing to give up nuclear weapons," 2 Oct. 2018 The system will be used to identify over 300,000 people at the Games, including athletes, volunteers, media, and other staff. — Sam Byford, The Verge, "NEC unveils facial recognition system for 2020 Tokyo Olympics," 7 Aug. 2018 Our women’s national soccer team serves as a standard setter for other professional leagues, other professional athletes, and beyond. — Samantha Leach, Glamour, "Abby Wambach Won't Stop Until the U.S. Women's Soccer Team Gets Equal Pay," 12 Mar. 2019 Guests at tonight's event include members of the local business and sporting communities such as Dame Mary Peters, a former track and field athlete who was just appointed to the prestigious Order of the Garter by Queen Elizabeth. — Caroline Hallemann, Town & Country, "Kate Middleton Finishes Off Day One of the Royal Tour of Northern Ireland in a Missoni Dress," 27 Feb. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'athlete.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.