• Amusement

    Pronunciation

    • IPA: /əˈmjuzmÉ™nt/
    • Hyphenation: a + muse + ment

    Origin

    Borrowed from French amusement, from amuse + -ment.

    Full definition of amusement

    Noun

    amusement

    (countable and uncountable; plural amusements)
    1. (uncountable) Entertainment
      • 2005, Plato, Sophist. Translation by Lesley Brown. .This is some form of amusement you're talking about.
    2. (countable) An activity that is entertaining or amusing, such as dancing, gunning, or fishing.
      • 1813, Jane Austen, S:Pride and Prejudice/Chapter 6, "What a charming amusement for young people this is, Mr. Darcy! There is nothing like dancing after all. I consider it as one of the first refinements of polished society."
      • 1843, Edgar Allan Poe, S:The Gold-Bug, His chief amusements were gunning and fishing, or sauntering along the beach and through the myrtles, in quest of shells or entomological specimens--his collection of the latter might have been envied by a Swammerdamm.
      • 1919, L. Frank Baum, S:The Magic of Oz/Chapter 20, The Cat was sour-tempered and grumpy, at first, but before they had journeyed far, the crystal creature had discovered a fine amusement. The long tails of the monkeys were constantly sticking through the bars of their cage, and when they did, the Glass Cat would slyly seize the tails in her paws and pull them.
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