tennis

name

1. An unincorporated community in Finney County, Kansas, United States.

noun

Etymology: From Middle English tennys, teneys, tenis, from Old French tenez (second-person plural imperative of tenir (“to hold”)).

1. A sport played by two players (or four in doubles), who alternately strike the ball over a net using racquets.

   ““Anthea hasn't a notion in her head but to vamp a lot of silly mugwumps. She's set her heart on that tennis bloke[…]whom the papers are making such a fuss about.””

   “One of Naomi Osaka's sponsors has been forced to apologise after depicting the Japanese tennis star, who is half-Haitian, with pale skin in an advertisement.”

2. A match in this sport.

   “We go about to parties in the daytime as usual, teas and tennises[…]”

3. An earlier game in which a ball is driven to and fro, or kept in motion by striking it with a racquet or with the open hand.

   “tennis-balls”

   “His easy bow, his good stories, his style of dancing and playing tennis, […] were familiar to all London.”

verb

Etymology: From Middle English tennys, teneys, tenis, from Old French tenez (second-person plural imperative of tenir (“to hold”)).

1. To play tennis.
2. To drive backward and forward like a tennis ball.

   “they shall have Intelligence or Espial upon the Enemy, will so drive him from one side to another, and tennis him amongst them”