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ATHLETE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A person trained to compete in sports
Synonyms:
athlete; jock
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("athlete" is a kind of...):
contestant (a person who participates in competitions)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "athlete"):
pro; professional (an athlete who plays for pay)
runner (a trained athlete who competes in foot races)
sharpshooter (an athlete noted for accurate aim)
shot putter (an athlete who competes in the shot put)
skater (someone who skates)
skier (someone who skis)
sledder (someone who rides a sled)
soccer player (an athlete who plays soccer)
sport; sportsman; sportswoman (someone who engages in sports)
striker (a forward on a soccer team)
reserve; second-stringer; substitute (an athlete who plays only when a starter on the team is replaced)
swimmer (a trained athlete who participates in swimming meets)
swinger (someone who swings sports implements)
tennis player (an athlete who plays tennis)
pole jumper; pole vaulter; vaulter (an athlete who jumps over a high crossbar with the aid of a long pole)
lifter; weightlifter (an athlete who lifts barbells)
winger ((sports) player in wing position)
acrobat (an athlete who performs acts requiring skill and agility and coordination)
amateur (an athlete who does not play for pay)
ball hawk (a team athlete who is skilled at stealing or catching the ball)
ballplayer; baseball player (an athlete who plays baseball)
basketball player; basketeer; cager (an athlete who plays basketball)
climber (someone who climbs as a sport; especially someone who climbs mountains)
cricketer (an athlete who plays cricket)
football player; footballer (an athlete who plays American football)
gymnast (an athlete who is skilled in gymnastics)
hockey player; ice-hockey player (an athlete who plays hockey)
hooker ((rugby) the player in the middle of the front row of the scrum who tries to capture the ball with the foot)
hurdler (an athlete who runs the hurdles)
jumper (an athlete who competes at jumping)
lacrosse player (an athlete who plays lacrosse)
letterman (an athlete who has earned a letter in a school sport)
Olympian (an athlete who participates in the Olympic games)
pentathlete (an athlete who competes in a pentathlon)
Instance hyponyms:
Dick Fosbury; Fosbury; Richard D. Fosbury (United States athlete who revolutionized the high jump by introducing the Fosbury flop in the 1968 Olympics (born in 1947))
Bob Mathias; Mathias; Robert Bruce Mathias (United States athlete who won Olympic gold medals in the decathlon (born in 1930))
James Cleveland Owens; Jesse Owens; Owens (United States athlete and Black American whose success in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin outraged Hitler (1913-1980))
James Francis Thorpe; Jim Thorpe; Thorpe (outstanding United States athlete (1888-1953))
Babe Didrikson; Babe Zaharias; Didrikson; Mildred Ella Didrikson; Mildred Ella Didrikson Zaharias; Zaharias (outstanding United States athlete (1914-1956))
Derivation:
athletic (relating to or befitting athletics or athletes)
Context examples:
Whether in a developing embryo or a professional athlete, the same sequence leads to their formation.
(Researchers Discovered Proteins Essential to Development of Skeletal Muscle, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
Bodybuilders and athletes often use anabolic steroids to build muscles and improve athletic performance.
(Anabolic Steroids, NIH: National Institute on Drug Abuse)
The lower of the three is Gilchrist, a fine scholar and athlete, plays in the Rugby team and the cricket team for the college, and got his Blue for the hurdles and the long jump.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
He wore a very shiny top hat and a neat suit of sober black, which made him look what he was—a smart young City man, of the class who have been labeled cockneys, but who give us our crack volunteer regiments, and who turn out more fine athletes and sportsmen than any body of men in these islands.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
An ultrasensitive test has been developed that detects a corrupted protein associated with Alzheimer’s disease and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a condition found in athletes, military veterans, and others with a history of repetitive brain trauma.
(New test detects protein associated with Alzheimer’s and CTE, National Institutes of Health)
The NFL released a statement praising the study for its role in advancing the science related to chronic head injuries and said it is working with “a wide range of experts to improve the health of current and former NFL athletes.
(Study: Brain Disease Found in Nearly All Deceased US Football Players, VOA News)
As to our own representative, the well-known athlete and international Rugby football player, E. D. Malone, he looks trained to a hair, and as he surveyed the crowd a smile of good-humored contentment pervaded his honest but homely face.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
After some breakage of the office furniture, the editor (an ex-college athlete), ably assisted by the business manager, an advertising agent, and the porter, succeeded in removing Martin from the office and in accelerating, by initial impulse, his descent of the first flight of stairs.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
Exercise Physiology is the identification of physiological mechanisms underlying physical activity, the comprehensive delivery of treatment services concerned with the analysis, improvement, and maintenance of health and fitness, rehabilitation of heart disease and other chronic diseases and/or disabilities, and the professional guidance and counsel of athletes and others interested in athletics, sports training, and human adaptability to acute and chronic exercise.
(Exercise Physiology, NCI Thesaurus)
Athletes who return to play before full recovery are at high risk for long-term symptoms like headaches, dizziness, and cognitive deficits with subsequent concussions.
(Biomarker in blood may help predict recovery time for sports concussions, NIH)
