polo

Everyday

1. Polo is a game played on horseback in which two teams use long-handled wooden mallets to hit a small ball into the other team's goal. tree →
2. Water polo is a team game played in a swimming pool, where swimmers throw a ball into a goal. tree →
3. A polo, or polo shirt, is a short-sleeved cotton shirt with a collar and a few buttons at the neck. tree →
4. A polo neck is a jumper with a high, folded collar round the neck (in the USA a turtleneck). tree →

In the lessons

Polo is one of the oldest team sports, from ancient Persia; it is linked with rich people because horses are expensive. Many schools have a polo shirt as part of the uniform. Water polo is an Olympic sport. Marco Polo was a famous Italian traveller to China (a name). Phrases: «polo shirt», «polo neck», «water polo», «polo match».

Examples

• The polo players galloped after the ball. tree →
• Our school uniform is a blue polo shirt and grey trousers. tree →
• I joined the water polo club at the swimming pool. tree →
• Grandma knitted me a woolly polo neck jumper. tree →
• Polo was first played in ancient Persia. tree →
• Marco Polo travelled all the way to China. tree →
• A polo team has four riders. tree →
• He told him that he wished him to play at polo. tree →

Note

The sport is uncountable: «play polo», not «a polo». The shirt is countable: «two polos». Capital P for Marco Polo and for the brand of mint sweets (Polo mints, UK).