scoreless

A scoreless game or contest is one in which neither side has scored. Think of a tense soccer match heading into the final minutes: if the score is still 0-0, the game is still scoreless. This word is used most often in sports, especially when talking about games, halves, periods, or draws. It highlights the fact that play is happening, but no points or goals have been put on the board yet.

The word "scoreless" is used mainly in sports. It describes a game, match, inning, half, or period in which no one has scored. If a soccer match is 0-0 after twenty minutes, it is still scoreless. If two baseball teams go through several innings without a run, those innings are scoreless. In the same way, a scoreless draw or a scoreless tie is a game that ends with neither side scoring at all.

The idea is simple: there is competition, there is play, but there are still no points or goals on the board. Because of that, the word often appears in reports about tense or defensive games. A commentator might say that the first half remained scoreless, or that a team kept its opponent scoreless for the entire match.

Outside sports, the word can sometimes be used more loosely for other contests or attempts where no points or wins are recorded, but that use is less common. Most of the time, if you see scoreless, it is talking about a game or part of a game where the score is still zero.