Sport is organized physical activity with rules, often involving competition. When you play soccer, basketball, or tennis, you're participating in a sport. Sports can be team activities like hockey or individual pursuits like gymnastics or swimming.

What makes something a sport rather than just play or exercise? Sports have established rules that everyone follows, they require physical skill and effort, and they usually involve some form of competition or measurement of performance. Running around the playground is fun, but track and field is a sport because it has specific events, official rules, and ways to measure who runs fastest or jumps farthest.

People participate in sports for many reasons: to stay healthy, to challenge themselves, to work with teammates, or simply because they love the game. Some athletes compete professionally, making sports their career, while millions more play recreationally for enjoyment and fitness.

The word can also mean being a good sport, which means accepting victory or defeat gracefully. If you lose a game but congratulate the winners and don't complain about the referee, you're being a good sport. Likewise, winners who don't brag or show off are good sports about their victory.

As a verb, sport can mean to wear something in a confident, showy way. When someone wears something casually, like a new jacket or a new haircut, you might say they're sporting it.