soccer
n. uncountablen. a game played by two teams of eleven players who try to kick a ball into the other team's goal. You cannot use your hands or arms unless you are the goalkeeper.
n. a team sport played between two sides of eleven players using a spherical ball, where the primary objective is to move the ball into the opposing goal without using hands or arms. Primarily used in North American, Australian, and South African English to distinguish the sport from other codes of football.
We play soccer every Saturday at the local park.
The children joined a local soccer league to improve their teamwork and stay active during the summer.
Originally British English; as an abbreviation for association football, via abbreviation assoc. + -er (suffix); earlier socker (1885), also socca (1889), with soccer attested 1888. Compare contemporary rugger, from rugby. Similarly constructed coinages from the same period include: brekker (“breakfast”), fresher (“freshman”) and footer (“football”). See Oxford -er.
Uncountable when referring to the sport itself; rarely used as a countable noun except when referring to specific varieties or historical contexts.
He plays the soccerHe plays soccerNames of sports do not take the definite article 'the' when used in a general sense.