club

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
club1

▶noun

• 1 an association dedicated to a particular interest or activity.

  ■ an organization constituted to play matches in a particular sport.

• 2 an organization offering members social amenities, meals, and temporary residence.

• 3 a nightclub with dance music.

▶verb (clubs, clubbing, clubbed)

• 1 (club together) combine with others to collect a sum of money.

• 2 (usu. go clubbing) informal go out to nightclubs.

– phrases
join the club informal a remark addressed to someone who is in a similar difficult situation to oneself.

– derivatives
clubber noun,
clubbing noun.

– origin C17: formed obscurely from club2.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
club2

▶noun

• 1 a heavy stick with a thick end, used as a weapon.

• 2 (also golf club) a club used to hit the ball in golf, with a heavy wooden or metal head on a slender shaft.

• 3 (clubs) one of the four suits in a conventional pack of playing cards, denoted by a black trefoil.

  ■ a card of such a suit.

▶verb (clubs, clubbing, clubbed) beat with a club or similar implement.

– origin ME: from ON clubba, var. of klumba; rel. to clump.