1. tournament(n = noun.event) tourney - a sporting competition in which contestants play a series of games to decide the winner;
is a kind of competition, contest
has particulars: world cup, elimination tournament, open, round robin
2. tournament(n = noun.event) - a series of jousts between knights contesting for a prize;
is a kind of competition, contest
has parts: joust, tilt
1. A mock fight, or warlike game, formerly in great favor, in which a number of combatants were engaged, as an exhibition of their address and bravery; hence, figuratively, a real battle. Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
" It different from the joust, which was a trial of skill between one man and another." [1913 Webster]
"With cruel tournament the squadrons join." [1913 Webster]
2. Any contest of skill in which there are many contestents for championship; as, a chess tournament. [1913 Webster]
tournament, n.
1 any contest of skill between a number of competitors, esp. played in heats (chess tournament; tennis tournament).
2 a display of military exercises etc. (Royal Tournament).
3 hist. a a pageant in which jousting with blunted weapons took place. b a meeting for jousting between single knights for a prize etc.
Etymology:
ME f. OF torneiement f. torneier TOURNEY
N contention, strife, contest, contestation, struggle, belligerency, opposition, controversy, polemics, debate, war of words, logomachy, litigation, paper war, high words, sparring, competition, rivalry, corrivalry, corrivalship, agonism, concours, match, race, horse racing, heat, steeple chase, handicap, regatta, field day, sham fight, Derby day, turf, sporting, bullfight, tauromachy, gymkhana, boat race, torpids, wrestling, greco-roman wrestling, pugilism, boxing, fisticuffs, the manly art of self-defense, spar, mill, set-to, round, bout, event, prize fighting, quarterstaff, single stick, gladiatorship, gymnastics, jiujitsu, jujutsu, kooshti, sumo, athletics, athletic sports, games of skill, shindy, fracas, clash of arms, tussle, scuffle, broil, fray, affray, affrayment, velitation, colluctation, luctation, brabble, brigue, scramble, melee, scrimmage, stramash, bushfighting, free fight, stand up fight, hand to hand, running fight, conflict, skirmish, rencounter, encounter, rencontre, collision, affair, brush, fight, battle, battle royal, combat, action, engagement, joust, tournament, tilt, tilting, tournay, list, pitched battle, death struggle, struggle for life or death, life or death struggle, Armageddon, hard knocks, sharp contest, tug of war, naval engagement, naumachia, sea fight, duel, duello, single combat, monomachy, satisfaction, passage d'armes, passage of arms, affair of honor, triangular duel, hostile meeting, digladiation, deeds of arms, feats of arms, appeal to arms, pugnacity, combativeness, bone of contention, contending, together by the ears, at loggerheads, at war, at issue, competitive, rival, belligerent, contentious, combative, bellicose, unpeaceful, warlike, quarrelsome, pugnacious, pugilistic, gladiatorial, palestric, palestrical, a verbis ad verbera, a word and a blow, a very pretty quarrel as it stands, commune periculum concordiam parit, lis litem generat.
N amusement, entertainment, recreation, fun, game, fun and games, diversion, divertissement, reaction, solace, pastime, passetemps, sport, labor of love, pleasure, relaxation, leisure, fun, frolic, merriment, jollity, joviality, jovialness, heyday, laughter, jocosity, jocoseness, drollery, buffoonery, tomfoolery, mummery, pleasantry, wit, quip, quirk, giggle, titter, snigger, snicker, crow, cheer, chuckle, shout, horse laugh, belly laugh, hearty laugh, guffaw, burst of laughter, fit of laughter, shout of laughter, roar of laughter, peal of laughter, cachinnation, Kentish fire, tiger, play, game, game at romps, gambol, romp, prank, antic, rig, lark, spree, skylarking, vagary, monkey trick, gambade, fredaine, escapade, echappee, bout, espieglerie, practical joke, dance, hop, reel, rigadoon, saraband, hornpipe, bolero, ballroom dance, minuet, waltz, polka, fox trot, tango, samba, rhumba, twist, stroll, hustle, cha-cha, fandango, cancan, bayadere, breakdown, cake-walk, cornwallis, break dancing, nautch-girl, shindig, skirtdance, stag dance, Virginia reel, square dance, galop, galopade, jig, Irish jig, fling, strathspey, allemande, gavot, gavotte, tarantella, mazurka, morisco, morris dance, quadrille, country dance, folk dance, cotillon, Sir Roger de Coverley, ballet, ball, bal, bal masque, bal costume, masquerade, Terpsichore, festivity, merrymaking, party, blowout, hullabaloo, hoedown, bat, bum, bust, clambake, donation party, fish fry, jamboree, kantikoy, nautch, randy, squantum, tear, Turnerfest, yule log, fete, festival, gala, ridotto, revels, revelry, reveling, carnival, brawl, saturnalia, high jinks, feast, banquet, regale, symposium, wassail, carouse, carousal, jollification, junket, wake, Irish wake, picnic, fete champetre, regatta, field day, treat, round of pleasures, dissipation, a short life and a merry one, racketing, holiday making, rejoicing, jubilee, bonfire, fireworks, feu-de-joie, firecracker, holiday, gala day, red letter day, play day, high days and holidays, high holiday, Bank holiday, May day, Derby day, Saint Monday, Easter Monday, Whit Monday, Bairam, wayz-goos, bean feast, Arbor Day, Declaration Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Memorial Day, Thanksgiving Day, Mardi gras, mi-careme, feria, fiesta, place of amusement, theater, hall, concert room, ballroom, assemblyroom, music hall, park, plaisance, national park, national forest, state park, county park, city park, vest-pocket park, public park (public), arbor, garden, pleasure ground, playground, cricketground, croquet ground, archery ground, hunting ground, tennis court, racket court, bowling alley, green alley, croquet lawn, rink, glaciarum, skating rink, roundabout, merry-go-round, swing, montagne Russe, game of chance, game of skill, athletic sports, gymnastics, archery, rifle shooting, tournament, pugilism, sports, horse racing, the turf, aquatics, skating, sliding, cricket, tennis, lawn tennis, hockey, football, baseball, soccer, ice hockey, basketball, rackets, fives, trap bat and ball, battledore and shuttlecock, la grace, pall- mall, tipcat, croquet, golf, curling, pallone, polo, water polo, tent pegging, tilting at the ring, quintain, greasy pole, quoits, horseshoes, discus, rounders, lacrosse, tobogganing, water polo, knurr and spell, leapfrog, hop skip and jump, mother may I, French and English, tug of war, blindman's bluff, hunt the slopper, hide and seek, kiss in the ring, snapdragon, cross questions and crooked answers, crisscross, hopscotch, jacks, jackstones, marbles, mumblety-peg, mumble-the-peg, pushball, shinney, shinny, tag, billiards, pool, pingpong, pyramids, bagatelle, bowls, skittles, ninepins, kain, American bowls, tenpins, tivoli, cards, card games, whist, rubber, round game, loo, cribbage, besique, euchre, drole, ecarte, picquet, allfours, quadrille, omber, reverse, Pope Joan, commit, boston, boaston, blackjack, twenty- one, vingtun, quinze, thirty-one, put, speculation, connections, brag, cassino, lottery, commerce, snip-snap-snoren, lift smoke, blind hookey, Polish bank, Earl of Coventry, Napoleon, patience, pairs, banker, blind poker, draw poker, straight poker, stud poker, bluff, bridge, bridge whist, lotto, monte, three-card monte, nap, penny-ante, poker, reversis, squeezers, old maid, fright, beggar-my- neighbor, baccarat, ace, king, queen, knave, jack, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, trey, deuce, joker, trump, wild card, spades, hearts, clubs, diamonds, major suit, minor suit, bower, right bower, left bower, dummy, jackpot, deck, pair, two pair, three of a kind, straight, flush, full-house, four of a kind, royal flush, misere chess, draughts, checkers, checquers, backgammon, dominos, merelles, nine men's morris, go bang, solitaire, game of fox and goose, monopoly, loto, scrabble, scribbage, boggle, crossword puzzle, hangman, morra, gambling, toy, plaything, bauble, doll, teetotum, knickknack, magic lantern, peep show, puppet show, raree show, gallanty show, toy shop, quips and cranks and wanton wiles, nods and becks and wreathed smiles, entertainer, showman, showgirl, dancer, tap dancer, song-and-dance man, vaudeville act, singer, musician, sportsman, gamester, reveler, master of ceremonies, master of revels, pompom girl, arbiter elegantiarum, arbiter bibendi, archer, fan, toxophilite, turfman, amusing, entertaining, diverting, recreational, recreative, lusory, pleasant, laughable, witty, fun, festive, festal, jovial, jolly, jocund, roguish, rompish, playful, playful as a kitten, sportive, ludibrious, funny, very funny, hilarious, uproarious, side-splitting, amused, pleased with a rattle, tickled with a straw, laughing, risible, ready to burst, ready to split, ready to die with laughter, convulsed with laughter, rolling in the aisles, on the light fantastic toe, at play, in sport, Int, vive la bagatelle!, vogue la galere!, deus nobis haec otia fecit, dum vivimus vivamus, dulce est desipere in loco, (every room) hath blazed with lights and brayed wi, misce stullitiam consiliis brevem.