rugby.
A form of football in which players can hold or kick an ovoid ball; rugby football. The ball cannot be handled forwards and points are scored by touching the ball to the ground in the area past the opponent's territory or by kicking the ball between goalposts and over a crossbar.
Meaning & usage
A form of football in which players can hold or kick an ovoid ball; rugby football. The ball cannot be handled forwards and points are scored by touching the ball to the ground in the area past the opponent's territory or by kicking the ball between goalposts and over a crossbar.
The scrum is a distinctive element of rugby.
The two rugbies split following a debate about amateurism.
The form of the game known as rugby union (see the usage note).
Ellipsis of rugby shirt (“a shirt of the kind worn by rugby players, usually short-sleeved and with a buttoned opening at the neck like a polo shirt, but with a stiffer collar”).
Where this word comes from
From the name of Rugby School in Rugby, in Warwickshire, England, United Kingdom, where the modern game was developed in the 19th century. The place name Rugby is attested in the Domesday Book as Old English Rocheberie (probably equivalent to rook (“Corvus frugilegus, a bird of the crow family”) + -by (suffix indicating a village or town)), possibly from *Hrōcebyriġ, dative singular of *Hrōceburh, from hrōc (“rook”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ker- (“to crow”)) + burh, burg (“castle, fort, stronghold; city; town”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- (“hill, mountain; high, lofty; to rise”)).
To play rugby.
Where this word comes from
From the name of Rugby School in Rugby, in Warwickshire, England, United Kingdom, where the modern game was developed in the 19th century. The place name Rugby is attested in the Domesday Book as Old English Rocheberie (probably equivalent to rook (“Corvus frugilegus, a bird of the crow family”) + -by (suffix indicating a village or town)), possibly from *Hrōcebyriġ, dative singular of *Hrōceburh, from hrōc (“rook”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ker- (“to crow”)) + burh, burg (“castle, fort, stronghold; city; town”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- (“hill, mountain; high, lofty; to rise”)).
Rubber cement, contact cement; commonly associated with solvent abuse, as it is often used as an inhalant.
Where this word comes from
Genericized trademark from Rugby, a brand of rubber cement by Bostik.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.