bout

noun

ˈbau̇t 

: a spell or period of activity: such as

a

: an athletic match (as of boxing)

lost his bout with the champion

b

: outbreak, attack

a bout of pneumonia

frequent bouts of depression

survived her bout with cancer

c

: session

a drinking bout

a bout of unemployment

Synonyms of bout

• tournament
• competition
• event
• game
• match
• contest

Examples of bout in a Sentence

undoubtedly the team's best wrestler, he hasn't lost a bout yet

she's currently suffering from a bout of the flu

Recent Examples on the Web

Amazon isn’t the only stock caught up in Wall Street’s latest bout of AI disruption fears. — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 30 Sep. 2026

Grundberg said the current escalation in Yemen has become more complicated compared to previous bouts of violence over the course of the civil war. — Samy Magdy, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2026

Suppressing this same pathway produced the opposite result, limiting the ability to switch behavior, driving longer bouts of the repetitive behavior, as per the release. — Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 28 Sep. 2026

In its latest forecast, the National Weather Service warned that the nor'easter was expected to dump more rain on mid-Atlantic and northeastern states through Monday night, potentially causing additional bouts of flooding. — Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 27 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

English dialect, a trip going and returning in plowing, from Middle English bought bend

First Known Use

1575, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for bout

• clout
• doubt
• drought
• flout
• gout
• grout
• kraut
• lout
• out
• pout
• rout
• scout

Kids Definition

bout

noun

ˈbau̇t 

1

: a spell of activity

nonstop bout of reading

2

: an athletic match

wrestling bout

3

: attack entry 2 sense 3

a bout of measles