Meaning & use
intramural
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a nounsport
Taking place between teams or people who all belong to the same school, college or organization.
Grammar: Usually comes before the noun: intramural sports, an intramural league.
Patterns
- intramural sports
- an intramural league
She joined the intramural soccer league at her college.
Intramural basketball games are played on weekday evenings in the campus gym.
The school offers intramural chess for students who do not want to travel.
adjectivebefore a nounspecialistformal
Located or happening within the walls or boundaries of an institution such as a hospital or research center.
Grammar: Formal and specialist; contrasts with extramural: intramural research.
Patterns
- intramural research
The institute funds both intramural research and outside university projects.
Intramural programs are run by the agency's own staff.
Common combinations
- intramural sports
- Intramural sports let beginners play without trying out for a varsity team.
- intramural league
- Our dorm entered a team in the intramural league.
- intramural team
- He captained the intramural team in his sophomore year.
- intramural competition
- The intramural competition ends with a tournament in May.
- intramural research
- The agency employs scientists for intramural research.
Synonyms and how they differ
- in-house
- In-house is a general word for anything done within an organization, while intramural is mostly tied to schools and sport.
- internal
- Internal is broader and describes any inside matter, not specifically organized competition.
- recreational
- Recreational stresses playing for fun, while intramural stresses that all players come from the same institution.
Opposites
Word family
- intramurals noun
- intramural sports as a group, used in American English
- extramural adjective
- happening outside the institution
- mural adjective
- relating to a wall (rare in this sense)
Commonly confused: intramural or interscholastic? intramural or intermural?
intramural vs interscholastic
Interscholastic describes contests between different schools, the opposite of intramural.
intramural vs intermural
Intermural is a misspelling; the standard word is intramural.
Practice
Maya does not play for the varsity team, but she enjoys the ___ volleyball games held among the dorms.
Choose one answer.
Intramural means within one institution, which matches games among dorms. Interscholastic and extramural describe contests between or outside schools.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “intramural”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.