Gymkhana
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A competition where riders and horses display a range of skills and aptitudes.
"In the afternoon the British held athletic sports, an impromptu military tournament, and a gymkhana, all of which caused much merriment and diversion, and the Boers profited by the cessation of the shell fire to shovel away at their trenches."
- 2 a meet at which riders and horses display a range of skills and aptitudes wordnet
- 3 A place of public resort for athletic games, etc. India, Myanmar, dated
"These privileged gentlemen have a fine club on the Fateh Maidan, a suburb of Hyderabad city, and they enjoy sports and races at the local gymkhana, in fact, they have a very good time, if one may judge by their appearance."
- 4 A meeting for such sports. India, Myanmar, dated
- 5 Synonym of motorkhana.
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- 6 Any event, situation, etc., with a broad array of elements. figuratively
"There was argument, public, private, and bar-parlor, with heated championship of one term or another on near-scientific, quasi-etymological, and a number of other grounds, but gradually one term began to dominate this philological gymkhana."
Example
More examples"In the afternoon the British held athletic sports, an impromptu military tournament, and a gymkhana, all of which caused much merriment and diversion, and the Boers profited by the cessation of the shell fire to shovel away at their trenches."
Etymology
From Hindustani گیند خانہ (gendxānā) / गेंदख़ाना (gendxānā, “racquet court”), from گیند / गेंद (gend, “ball”) + خانہ / ख़ाना (xānā, “court”). Influenced by gymnastics and gymnasium.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.