tennis

noun

ten·​nis ˈte-nəs 

often attributive

1

: an indoor or outdoor game that is played with rackets and a light elastic ball by two players or pairs of players on a level court (as of clay or grass) divided by a low net

2

: court tennis

Examples of tennis in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The brand has a store on King Street, the area’s most popular retail stretch, and has previously hosted events during the Charleston Open, a 500-level tennis tournament held every April. —Jessica Schiffer, Vogue, 14 Jan. 2026

If all that wasn't enough, the Mendoza family home is less than a mile from the Miami campus in Coral Gables — and Elsa Mendoza, the mother of the Indiana quarterbacks, played tennis for the Hurricanes in her college years. —CBS News, 14 Jan. 2026

The most successful men’s tennis player of all time, Novak Djokovic is chasing his 25th Grand Slam, but still finds time to travel for fun too. —Jonathan Thompson, Travel + Leisure, 14 Jan. 2026

Ohtani joined the Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry, tennis star Roger Federer and golf icon Tiger Woods as the only athletes ever to hit $100 million in annual marketing revenue, according to Sportico. —Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times, 14 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English tenetz, tenys, perhaps borrowed from Anglo-French tenez, 2nd person plural imperative of tenir "to hold" — more at tenant entry 1

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Phrases Containing tennis

• court tennis
• deck tennis
• lawn tennis
• paddle tennis
• platform tennis
• squash tennis
• table tennis
• tennis court
• tennis elbow
• tennis shoe

Rhymes for tennis

• menace

Kids Definition

tennis

noun

ten·​nis ˈten-əs 

: a game played with rackets and a light elastic ball by two players or two pairs of players on a level court divided by a low net