pastime

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

• n. An activity that occupies one's spare time pleasantly: Sailing is her favorite pastime.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

• n. That which amuses, and serves to make time pass agreeably; sport; amusement; diversion; games
• v. To sport; to amuse oneself.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English

• n. That which amuses, and serves to make time pass agreeably; sport; amusement; diversion.
• intransitive v. To sport; to amuse one's self.

from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

• To pass the time agreeably; sport; use diversion.
• n. Sport; amusement; diversion; that which amuses and serves to make time pass agreeably.
• n. Synonyms Pastime, Amusement, Recreation, Diversion, Entertainment, play. The italicized words keep near to their meaning by derivation. The central idea of a pastime is that it is so positively agreeable that it lets time slip by unnoticed: as, to turn work into pastime. Amusement has the double meaning of being kept from ennui and of finding occasion of mirth (see amuse). Recreation is that sort of play or agreeable occupation which refreshes the tired person, making him as good as new. Diversion is a stronger word than recreation, representing that which turns one aside from ordinary serious work or thought, and amuses him greatly. Entertainment has come to have great breadth, ranging from amusement in its narrower sense to diversion and to the idea of a set exercise, as a concert, or to the articles of food furnished to guests; generally, however, entertainment stands for that which is social and refined.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• n. a diversion that occupies one's time and thoughts (usually pleasantly)