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contact sport

contact sport

9 3.4
A sport in which players often touch or hit each other, for example rugby
  • noun
  • /ˈkɒntækt spɔrt/
translation icon : deporte de contacto
  • Rugby is considered a contact sport because players often tackle each other during the game.
  • contact sports such as football
  • contact sport athletes
  • contact sport participation

Or is it traumatic because you played a contact sport and it damaged your frontal lobes?

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Examples

How Physical

combat
854 3.5
contact sport
9 3.4

Surface Forms

contact sport singular

Morphology

contact + sport

The meaning 'a sport involving physical contact' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'contact' (physical touch) with 'sport' (organized physical activity). This is a regular compositional noun phrase pattern found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Contact sport comes from the simple idea that players often make physical contact; contact means 'touch', so a contact sport is a game where players regularly touch, bump, or tackle each other. That's why the phrase means a sport where physical contact is part of the game.