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piste

piste

8.9
A flat narrow area marked for fencing matches
  • noun
  • /piːst/
  • Jargon
translation icon : pista

Examples

  • Crying on a lonely piste, Shin A-Lam lived out everyone's nightmare -- all alone, on a lighted stage, crying while everyone watched.

    Blog text (18)
  • In preparation, students spent the fifth and final day of camp simulating the bracket-style competition that they will see at the championships, with strings of body cord keeping tally of each hit and causing a complicated web of wires along the pistes.

    Blog text (29)
  • The athletes took their positions at the end of the piste before the fencing match began.

  • During the tournament, the contestants moved quickly along the piste to score points against each other.

  • The fencers practiced their moves repeatedly on the designated piste to improve their skills.

Surface Forms

piste singular
pistes plural

Etymology

Piste comes from French and Italian words like pista, which mean 'track' or 'path'. Think of a narrow 'track' where two fencers face each other, and you will remember that a piste in fencing is the marked strip for a bout.