moonball

moonball (third-person singular simple present moonballs, present participle moonballing, simple past and past participle moonballed)

moonballs (present singular third-person)
moonballing (participle present)
moonballed (participle past)
moonballed (past)

(tennis) To strike the ball in this way.


return pass

But then Arsenal scored. Sebastian Kehl's poor touch ended at Walcott's feet via Van Persie. The Englishman's return pass was a delight, allowing Van Persie to take a touch before rifling a rising drive past Roman Weidenfeller.

2011 September 13, Sam Lyon, “Borussia Dortmund 1 - 1 Arsenal”, in BBC:

(soccer) A pass back to the person who just passed the ball.


half-century

He brought up his half-century with a powerful drive past offspinner Dan Cullen, whose seven overs cost 0-52.

2009 January 30, AAP, “Vics make great start despite Rogers loss”, in Herald Sun:

(cricket) A score of 50 runs by a single batsman in one innings


long corner

(soccer) A corner kick played directly into the goal area, as opposed to a short corner.


kicking boots

If these two were outstanding, the others were not far behind. Finlow, having his best game for the School, put Murphy in for the next try and it did not seem to matter that Mangeot had for once left his kicking boots behind[,] for Lintin, Finlow and H. Cooper were all but over before half-time.

1979, “Rugby Football”, in The Ampleforth Journal, volume 79, page 154:

Helped by a quite remarkable individual run by Jason[…], Jonny found his kicking boots again, Wales succumbed 28—17 and we were through to the semis in Sydney on 16 November.

2009, Josh Lewsey, One Chance: My Life and Rugby, page 127:

As in their narrow defeat of Argentina last week, England were indisciplined at the breakdown, and if Georgian fly-half Merab Kvirikashvili had remembered his kicking boots, Johnson's side might have been behind at half-time.

2011 September 18, Ben Dirs, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 41-10 Georgia”, in BBC Sport:

(chiefly rugby, idiomatic) Ability to kick well.


lay-up

Christophe could tell whether Joshua wanted him to pass the ball to him into the inside for an easy lay-up by the set of his mouth.

2008, Jesmyn Ward, Where the Line Bleeds, Bloomsbury (2018), pages 52-53:


late tackle

Stepanov was then booked for a late tackle on Andrews and that would late prove very costly.

2011 November 11, Rory Houston, “Estonia 0-4 Republic of Ireland”, in RTE Sport:

Javier Hernandez's attempts to turn in the rebound were foiled by Ashley Cole's reckless late tackle - which left the England defender fortunate to receive only a yellow card from referee Phil Dowd and United puzzled that they were not awarded a second penalty.

2011 September 18, Phil McNulty, “Man Utd 3 - 1 Chelsea”, in BBC Sport:

(soccer) A mistimed attempt to take the ball of an opposing player that results in the tackler making contact with the player and not the ball


line judge

(tennis) An official who watches the lines of the court and judges whether the ball has landed in or out and also declares foot faults.


open-side

(rugby) the portion of the field which is larger as measured from a scrum or breakdown to the touchline

(rugby) a position in the last row of forwards on that side, more fully open-side flanker, designated with number 7

Up front, skipper and open-side Lewis Moody looked almost back to full fitness, while England's set-piece was barely troubled, albeit against a Romania side showing 11 changes from that beaten by Argentina earlier in the week.

2011 September 24, Ben Dirs, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 67-3 Romania”, in BBC Sport:


knock on

en-verb

knock on (third-person singular simple present knocks on, present participle knocking on, simple past and past participle knocked on)

knocks on (present singular third-person)
knocking on (participle present)
knocked on (participle past)
knocked on (past)

It then took a desperate piece of defending from Ben Foden to deny Scotland a try in the left-hand corner, the full-back reaching out an arm to knock the ball from Simon Danielli's grasp, Nick de Luca knocking on with the line at his mercy.

2011 October 1, Tom Fordyce, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 16-12 Scotland”, in BBC Sport:

(transitive, intransitive, rugby) To commit a foul by knocking the ball forward.


reaction save

The England striker had come close with a first-half header from a Bannan free-kick and after a neat piece of ball juggling and fierce shot, Bent was then denied by a superb reaction save from Al-Habsi.

2011 October 1, John Sinnott, “Aston Villa 2 - 0 Wigan”, in BBC Sport:

(soccer) The instinctive blocking of the ball by a goalkeeper.


bring the lumber

bring the lumber (third-person singular simple present brings the lumber, present participle bringing the lumber, simple past and past participle brought the lumber)

brings the lumber (present singular third-person)
bringing the lumber (participle present)
brought the lumber (participle past)
brought the lumber (past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-bring the lumber.wav

While Dontrelle Willis got limber, the guys facing him brought the lumber — or aluminum, in this case

2005, “Hurricanes Knock Willis Around”, in Lewiston Tribune, Lewiston, ME:


strikeforce

Liverpool's £58m strikeforce of Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez scored the goals that settled the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park - but Everton were left complaining bitterly about Jack Rodwell's controversial early red card.

2011 October 1, Phil McNulty, “Everton 0 - 2 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport:

(soccer, figuratively) Collectively, the strikers in a team.


fielding circle

en-noun

fielding circle (plural fielding circles)

(cricket, in a one-day match) A line, marked on the field, consisting of two semicircles around each wicket joined by parallel lines, outside of which there may be no more than two fielders


sending off

sending off (plural sending offs or sendings off)

sending offs (plural)
sendings off (plural)

Rooney's sending off will be the main talking point, however, and his actions once again raise questions about his temperament that he looked to have gone a long way towards answering in recent times.

2011, Phil McNulty, Euro 2012: Montenegro 2-2 England:

(sports) An instance of a player being sent off; a dismissal from the field of play.


foul pole

(baseball) One of the two poles marking the area inside which a fair ball may be hit. It stands above a foul line.


garryowen

After the Irish Garryowen Football Club, named from Garryowen, Limerick.

England had an early opportunity with a line-out deep in French territory after a clever grubber from Foden only for Lionel Nallet to burgle back possession, and they then tore into France again as Alexis Palisson was smashed backwards after taking a garryowen and Manu Tuilagi thundered into Morgan Parra.

2011, Tom Fordyce, Rugby World Cup 2011: England 12-19 France:

(rugby union) A high short punt onto or behind the defending team.

Garryowen Football Club
Garryowen, Limerick


tap and go

They grabbed an unlikely lifeline when Ben Youngs took a quick tap and go to release Foden, who jinked and dummied his way over to make it 16-5 with 23 minutes left on the clock, Wilkinson popping over the conversion for 16-7.

(rugby) A quick free kick taken by touching the ball with the boot and running forward.


Uefa

England and Capello can now make plans for Euro 2012, but they will be without Rooney for at least the opening group match and perhaps more should Uefa decide to increase his suspension.


holding midfielder

holding midfielder (plural holding midfielders)

After the restart, QPR holding midfielder Shaun Derry, in a rare advanced position, was inches away from connecting with a cross from Jamie Mackie, who was making his first start since he suffered a double leg break against Rovers in an FA Cup tie in January.

2011 October 15, Paul Fletcher, “QPR 1 - 1 Blackburn”, in BBC Sport:

defensive midfielder
defensive midfielder


cross-shot

But the visitors halved the deficit within two minutes when Scott Sinclair burst into the area and, despite going down under Bennett's challenge, stabbed the ball across for Graham to score with a cross-shot.

2011 October 15, Graham Chase, “Norwich 3 - 1 Swansea”, in BBC Sport:

(soccer) A shot from one side of the field towards the opposite corner of the goal.


chip shot

A 45-foot chip shot on the 18th hole gave Billy Casper Jr. of Bonita, Calif., a 5-under-par 65.

1957 February 9, “Sports in Brief”, in Gettysburg Times, USA, retrieved 2011-10-17, page 5:

Woods finished on a high note when he muscled a chip shot out of the rough behind the 18th green, landed it on the fringe and got it to roll within inches of the hole.

2010 September 5, “Day takes 1-shot lead at Deutsche Bank”, in WGRZ-TV, USA, retrieved 2011-10-17:

(golf) An approach shot made from a location a short distance from the golf green in which the ball is launched into the air with only low or moderate force, so that it will land on the green and roll toward the hole.

When Ludwig Millfors lined up for a 19-yard chip shot of a field goal with three seconds left in the game, NDSU—and its 13,637 homecoming fans—had reason to feel comfortable.

1992 Oct. 11, "College Football Chip Shot Goes Wide in 2-point Bison Loss, Grand Forks Herald (USA), p. 3D (retrieved 17 Oct 2011)

A 20-yard run by quarterback Kade Harrington put them in Glander's range, and the senior kicker booted a chip-shot 30-yard field goal with 11 seconds left.

2011 October 15, Stephen Whitfield, “Kingwood beats Atascocita on last-second field goal”, in yourhoustonnews.com, USA, retrieved 2011-10-17:

(American football) A relatively easy field goal, made from a short distance.

Plantation surprised Palm Springs North early with a chip shot close to the net by Mike Noll.

1988 December 20, “Palm Springs North Wins Soccer Title”, in Miami herald, retrieved 2011-10-17, page 6C:

(soccer) A shot in which the ball is kicked from underneath with accuracy but with less than maximum force, to launch it high into the air in order either to pass it over the heads of opponents or to score a goal.


stand-off

France's own stand-in stand-off Trinh-Duc missed with a drop-goal when well set but then set off on a curving run through a scattered defensive line which carried him deep into enemy territory until Weepu's desperate tap-tackle finally brought him down.

2011 October 23, Tom Fordyce, “2011 Rugby World Cup final: New Zealand 8-7 France”, in BBC Sport:


tap-tackle

(rugby, American football) A tackle made from behind the running ball-carrier, where the tackler dives to touch the player's ankle and trips him up.


tap-tackle

en-verb

tap-tackle (third-person singular simple present tap-tackles, present participle tap-tackling, simple past and past participle tap-tackled)

tap-tackles (present singular third-person)
tap-tackling (participle present)
tap-tackled (participle past)
tap-tackled (past)

Farrell drilled home a 46-metre penalty and should have had another when Pollard, attempting to jink his way out of defence, was tap-tackled by Anthony Watson and penalised for not releasing.

2019 November 2, Robert Kitson, “Rugby World Cup: South Africa surge to glory as England fall short”, in The Observer:

(rugby, American football) to tackle with a tap-tackle


outcourt

Offensive player in the middle of the outcourt receives a pass from one of his teammates.

1951, Blair Gullion, Techniques and Tactics of Basketball Defense, page 60:

For Calvin it was Rog Postmus with 18, mostly from outcourt, Duane Rosendahl with 16, Stu Sisco with 15, and Preston "Butts" Kool had 10.

1992, Gordon M. Brewer, --But how You Played the Game!: 1862-1955, page 169:

[…] shows that all shots are taken from outcourt, this is not necessarily true because it is possible, by reversing direction, for the dribbler to catch his guard overplaying him and drive in for a layup.

1970, William Albert Healey, Joseph W. Hartley, Ten Great Basketball Offenses, page 132:

(basketball, handball) The other half of the court from the goal one is aiming for.


outcourt

Special mention is due Abadie, 03, Heyman, 04, whose outcourt playing is excellent, and Roos, '04, who has shown good judgment in placing the ball.

1883, “College Sports”, in The Occident, page 244:

The middle man normally will be the outcourt defensive man, away from the rebound.

1969, Robert J. Buck, The Shuffle and Press Offense for High School Basketball, page 29:

It should also be remembered that the outcourt shots are all taken from behind the screen.

Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the goal of the other team.

2018, Ace Banking And Static Awareness, page 273:

(basketball, handball) Playing or played on the outcourt.


outcourt

Many coaches are of the opinion that high school teams attempt too many rebound shots but would profit by dribbling or passing the ball outcourt more often and starting their offensive attack over again.

1946, Athletic Journal - Volume 27, page 22:

Jack felt a warm glow of pride as he watched his brother smoothly carry the ball outcourt and then turn to drive in with flashing legs and lace the leather through the net.

1953, Leon E. Burgoyne, Jack Davis, Forward, page 52:


scuffball

(baseball) An illegal pitch where the baseball has been altered using sandpaper or a similar tool to modify its spin.


side netting

Paul Robinson produced a spectacular full-stretch stop to deny David Fox his first goal of the season from 25 yards before Elliott Bennett fired into the side netting when he should have done much better from eight yards.

2011 October 29, Neil Johnston, “Norwich 3 - 3 Blackburn”, in BBC Sport:

(soccer) Alternative form of side-netting


skittle out

skittle out (third-person singular simple present skittles out, present participle skittling out, simple past and past participle skittled out)

skittles out (present singular third-person)
skittling out (participle present)
skittled out (participle past)
skittled out (past)

(cricket, transitive) To dismiss (batsmen) quickly.


outground

(cricket) Alternative spelling of out ground


find the net

find the net (third-person singular simple present finds the net, present participle finding the net, simple past and past participle found the net)

finds the net (present singular third-person)
finding the net (participle present)
found the net (participle past)
found the net (past)

It is testimony to QPR's spirit then that it was they who next found the net as Bothroyd's goalbound header from an Armand Traore cross ultimately found the net courtesy of the back of Helguson, who was on the goalline but - despite the protestations of a number of City players - not offside.

2011 November 5, Phil Dawkes, “QPR 2 - 3 Man City”, in BBC Sport:


inside-out

...cracking an ‘inside-out’ backhand past Rahim on the set point...

1977 March 15, The Washington Post, page D5:

Kyrgios hits a thumping inside-out forehand to Raonic's weaker wing, the backhand.

2014 July 2, The Daily Telegraph, Sports Sect., p. 6

(tennis) Describing cross-court shots made by the unexpected hand, as of a backhand return of a ball struck to the player's forehand.

ઊલટું

with the inside turned to be on the outside


Laker

(basketball) A player for the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team


Daley

From Clipping of (Roch)dale. + -y. From dale.

(soccer) A supporter of Rochdale Association Football Club


side puck

(hurling) A penalty shot awarded against a player who runs over the sideline with the ball. The opponents take a free puck from where the ball crossed the line.


sideline cut

In the first half we had a sideline cut, and as the ball was dropping in I could tell the Tipp player in front of me was gone up too early for it and wasn't going to get to it.

2010, Dan Shanahan, Dan Shanahan - If you don't know me, don't judge me, →ISBN:

Tipp took a quick sideline cut, worked it up the field and engineered an overlap, Peter Kelly had to come, Séamus Callanan slipped the ball through to Bubbles, who drove it past Noley, who nearly stopped it.

2014, Anthony Daly, Dalo: The Autobiography, →ISBN:

(hurling) A penalty shot awarded against a player who runs over the sideline with the ball. The opponents take a free puck from where the ball crossed the line; side puck.

In the sideline-and-up pass, both the receiver and the passer are faking the sideline cut.

1958, Donald E. Fuoss, Quarterback generalship and strategy, page 96:

Here, the receiver combines the sideline-flag pattern with a second sideline cut.

1993, Bud Wilkinson, Football: Winning Offense, →ISBN, page 68:

The l, 2, and 4 players run picks; the picks are set to free up the 1 player for a sideline cut.

2006, Jill Prudden, Coaching Girls' Basketball Successfully, →ISBN, page 123:

The second passing option for O5 presents itself when O1 is unable to get open on the sideline cut.

2013, Winning Basketball Fundamentals, →ISBN, page 237:

(American football, basketball) A sudden change of direction and run for the sideline.

If it is too far back he can't get as sharp a downward angle or sideline cut.

1959 September, “Volleyball is a Rugged Game”, in Boys' Life, volume 49, number 9, page 56:

(volleyball) A shot where the ball is angled sharply toward the sideline, just barely in bounds.


post up

post up (third-person singular simple present posts up, present participle posting up, simple past and past participle posted up)

posts up (present singular third-person)
posting up (participle present)
posted up (participle past)
posted up (past)

(basketball) To establish a position in the frontcourt on one side or the other of the free-throw lane, especially used against smaller defenders.


reverse pass

That seemed to inject life into United, and Rooney was denied by goalkeeper Yann Sommer from a Giggs reverse pass before seeing a penalty shout turned down.

2011 December 7, David Ornstein, “FC Basel 2 - 1 Man Utd”, in BBC Sport:

(soccer) A pass in which the player runs in the opposite direction to where he passed.


Premier League

Robin van Persie scored a sensational volley to mark Arsenal's 125th birthday with a victory over Everton that puts them fourth in the Premier League.

2011 December 10, David Ornstein, “Arsenal 1 - 0 Everton”, in BBC Sport:

The highest division of English football.


Champions League

The result sees Arsenal leapfrog Chelsea - who face Manchester City on Monday - and occupy a Champions League spot for the first time this season.

(soccer) The highest-level European club football (soccer) tournament, organised by UEFA.

Չեմպիոնների լիգա

UEFA Champions League: the highest-level European club football tournament

CAF Champions League
CAF Champions League

(soccer) An annual African football (soccer) competition, formally known as CAF Champions League.

AFC Champions League Elite
AFC Champions League Elite

(soccer) An annual Asian football (soccer) competition, formally known as AFC Champions League Elite.


skittleball

en-noun

skittleball (countable and uncountable, plural skittleballs)

(uncountable) A team sport in which players attempt to knock over the opposing team's skittle by throwing a ball.


switch pitcher

As the result of a childhood injury, Larry Kimbrough became both a switch hitter and a switch pitcher, and he carried those abilities all the way to the only major leagues available to a black ballplayer in the early 1940s: the Negro League

2000, Brent P. Kelley, The Negro leagues revisited: conversations with 66 more baseball heroes, →ISBN, page 142:

(baseball) A pitcher who pitches both right-handed and left-handed.


fieldsman

The batsmen took an easy single as the ball approached the fieldsman but Gambhir called for a second on the throw and Franklin uprooted the non-striker's stumps.

2009 March 19, AAP, “India 4-278 at stumps”, in Herald Sun:

Radley pulled it, as a great laugh went up, to the very spot from which the fieldsman had been removed.

I timed it successfully, and had no doubt of having added four to my score, when, to my astonishment, I saw a fieldsman running from the direction of the hedge.

1920, Various, Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 159, July 14th, 1920:

Watch the flying fieldsman, Keen to save the fourer, Gallop past the wooden box Sacred to the scorer!

William Grey, 1; Samuel Long, 2; James Brown, 3; George and John Simmons, one capital, the other so-so--an uncertain hitter, but a good fieldsman, 5; Joel Brent, excellent, 6; Ben Appleton--here was a little pause, for Ben's abilities at cricket were not completely ascertained, but then he was a good fellow, so full of fun and waggery!

1873, Various, The World's Greatest Books, Vol VI.:

(cricket, chiefly Australia, dated in UK) fielder


high and tight

Comparing the terms high and tight for the longer hair on the high part of the scalp and the shortest or tight-to-the-scalp hair on the sides.

(baseball) Being a pitch that is thrown close to the batter, but does not hit him.


total football

(soccer) A tactic in which the outfield players assume different roles during a game, while keeping an organised structure.


game manager

He was a "game manager" who threw five interceptions on the season, a steady, if unspectacular, player surrounded by a solid team.

(American football) A quarterback who makes a minimum number of mistakes on a team that relies on its defense and rushing offense to win games.


junkball

(tennis, sometimes derogatory) A deliberately slow shot.

(baseball) An off-speed pitch, such as a changeup, a curveball or a slider.


IBB

(baseball) Initialism of intentional base on balls, an intentional walk.


Linsanity

(US, basketball, slang) Enthusiasm and excitement about the sudden rise of Jeremy Lin (then of the NBA's New York Knicks) to basketball stardom in 2012.


lead the line

en-verb

lead the line (third-person singular simple present leads the line, present participle leading the line, simple past and past participle led the line)

leads the line (present singular third-person)
leading the line (participle present)
led the line (participle past)
led the line (past)

Andy Carroll is leading the line, with Suarez playing behind him.

Martial, who had been an injury doubt, led the line with strength and positivity.

2021 March 7, David Hytner, “Manchester United catch City cold as Fernandes and Shaw end winning run”, in The Guardian:

(idiomatic, soccer) To play as centre forward.


blocked shot

(sports) A shot that is grabbed or batted away by an opposing player before it reaches the basket, goal, etc.


centre-forward

(soccer) Alternative form of centre forward


one-and-done

John Calipari's Kentucky squad was made up of one-and-done players.

(slang, basketball) A basketball player who plays college basketball for a single year and then declares for the NBA draft.


Gazzamania

Thus, Gazzamania conceals a complex sub-text about three things: gender; the white male body; and the British working class (and its relations with other classes).

1995, Roger Horrocks, Male myths and icons: masculinity in popular culture, page 162:

Paul Gascoigne went from being the focal point of Gazzamania to sad, fat clown in a matter of months[…]

2009, Ben Carrington, Ian McDonald, Marxism, cultural studies and sport, page 78:

Gazzamania, that much is clear, took off after the World Cup semi-final between England and Germany in Turin.

2011, Simon Kuper, Football Against The Enemy:

(informal) Enthusiasm for the English footballer Paul Gascoigne (born 1967).


double bonus

Colorado was in the double bonus for the last few minutes of the game, but had trouble hitting the free throws.

(basketball) The award of two free throws on any sort of foul when enough fouls have been accumulated.


Elite Eight

(basketball, US, informal) The eight teams participating in the regional finals of the NCAA Division I tournament, one of whom will become the national champion.

(basketball, US, informal) The round of the NCAA Division I basketball tournament where all but 8 teams have been eliminated.

(basketball, US, informal) The eight teams that advance to the site of the final rounds of the NCAA Division II tournament, one of whom will become the national champion.

(basketball, US, informal) An appearance in the Elite Eight, whether in Division I or II.


role player

The Dallas Mavericks beat the Miami Heat because their team had solid role players like J.J. Barea and Shawn Marion.

(basketball) A player who is not one of the best players on the team, but still makes a meaningful contribution.


biffer

(informal, cricket) An attacking batsman.


baseball card

A type of trading card that features a picture of a baseball player on one side and information about the player on the other side.


follow-on

(cricket) The act of a captain forcing the other side to bat again immediately after their first innings.


roughrider

noncommissioned officer
noncommissioned officer

(military, dated) A noncommissioned officer in the British cavalry whose duty is to assist the riding master.


CFG

City Football Group
w:City Football Group

(soccer) Initialism of City Football Group.


side center

(basketball) A former position in women's basketball that played in the backcourt along with the guards.


stoolball

Nausicaa / With other virgins did at stoolball play.

1614–1615, Homer, “(please specify the book number)”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., Homer’s Odysses. […], London: […] Rich[ard] Field [and William Jaggard], for Nathaniell Butter, published 1615, →OCLC; republished in The Odysseys of Homer, […], volume (please specify the book number), London: John Russell Smith, […], 1857, →OCLC:


163rd game

One game beyond the customary length of the Major League Baseball season, 162 games.

Much to the surprise of both the Red Sox and the Yankees, the Yankees lost. The Red Sox, however, did not. ¶ As a result, baseball's two best teams would be facing each other in a 163rd game. The winner would take on the Kansas City Royals in the league championship series, the prelude to the World Series, […]

2008, Richard Bradley, The Greatest Game, Free Press, →ISBN, page x:

The win-loss percentage is simply the number of games won divided by the total number of games played (the total number of games played is 162 at the end of the regular season). If two teams are tied at the end of the regular season, a 163rd game will be scheduled to break the tie.

2016, Dan Formosa, Paul Hamburger, Baseball Field Guide, 3rd edition, New York: The Experiment, →ISBN, page 18:

After the 162-game season, the Rays and the Rangers were both 91–71 and tied for the second wild-card spot in the AL. That meant a 163rd game was needed to decide who would go to the playoffs.

2023, Luke Hanlon, Tampa Bay Rays, Minneapolis: Abdo Publishing, →ISBN, page 29:

(baseball) A one-game playoff between two teams for a playoff spot.


Caley

(soccer) Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, a football club based in Inverness, Scotland


Doonhamers

(soccer, informal) Queen of the South Football Club, a football club based in Dumfries, Scotland.


Serie A

(soccer) The highest division of professional football in Italy.


Hibs

Garry O'Connor stabbed Hibs into a third-minute lead from close range and the Edinburgh side deservedly went into the break with their lead intact.

2012 April 14, Clive Lindsay, “Aberdeen 1-2 Hibernian”, in BBC:

(soccer) Hibernian Football Club, a football club based in Edinburgh, Scotland.


Killie

(soccer) Kilmarnock Football Club, a football club based in Kilmarnock, Scotland.


Serie B

Before kick-off, a section of Chelsea's support sadly let themselves and their club down by noisily interrupting the silence held in memory of the Hillsborough disaster and for Livorno midfielder Piermario Morosini, who collapsed and died after suffering a heart attack during a Serie B game on Saturday.

2012 April 15, Phil McNulty, “Tottenham 1-5 Chelsea”, in BBC:

The second division of professional football in Italy.


Dons

Few goals had been expected with the three league meetings between the sides this season having produced one goal - and that a controversial penalty scored by Dons striker Scott Vernon.

(soccer) Aberdeen Football Club, a football club based in Aberdeen, Scotland.

(soccer) Wimbledon Football Club, a defunct football club based in London.

(soccer) AFC Wimbledon, a football club based in London, founded by the supporters of Wimbledon FC.

(soccer) Milton Keynes Dons F.C., a football club based in Milton Keynes, England.


Ligue 1

(soccer) The highest division of professional football in France.


Eredivisie

(soccer) The highest division of professional football in the Netherlands.


Bundesliga

(soccer) The German Football Bundesliga (the highest division of professional men's football in Germany)

(soccer) The Austrian Football Bundesliga (the highest division of professional men's football in Austria)


Primeira Liga

(soccer) The highest division of professional football in Portugal.


Boro

They created the better chances while Boro, looking every inch a troubled team, rarely looked like avoiding a third successive goalless home draw.

1999, Stuart Barnes, “Boro's form keeps failing”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), The Guardian:

If, however, Boro let their guard slip, you can bet the Tigers will tear their guests for the day to shreds. In not one game this season have City sat back. Against Middlesbrough it will surely be no different.

2009, Ian Waterstone, Live Through the Dream: The Epic Journey Depicting Hull City's First Ever Season in the Top Flight of English Football, →ISBN, page 124:

Last week, the man from the local paper told the 24-year-old author that in years to come the "Linny", as the pub is known, will feature prominently on "Richard Milward Tours" of Boro.

2009, Caspar Llewellyn Smith, “A night out with the young bard of Boro”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), The Guardian:

(chiefly soccer and Teesside) The town of Middlesbrough, and more specifically Middlesbrough FC football club.

Craig Reid struck the United woodwork, while Boro goalkeeper Chris Day had to tip over a header from his own midfielder Michael Bostwick.

2012 May 11, Chris Osborne, “Stevenage 0-0 Sheff Utd”, in BBC Sport:

(soccer) Stevenage Football Club, a football team from Stevenage formerly known as Stevenage Borough Football Club


stepover

Fernando Amorebieta seemed to have checked him, but a stepover created a fraction of room that became significant as the defender slipped, giving Falcao just enough space to curl a superb finish into the top corner.

2012 May 9, Jonathan Wilson, “Europa League: Radamel Falcao's Atlético Madrid rout Athletic Bilbao”, in the Guardian:


18-yard box

Falcao, who scored the only goal in last season's Europa League final as Porto beat Braga, received the ball halfway between the six- and 18-yard boxes.


take a knee

take a knee (third-person singular simple present takes a knee, present participle taking a knee, simple past took a knee, past participle taken a knee)

takes a knee (present singular third-person)
taking a knee (participle present)
took a knee (past)
taken a knee (participle past)

The N.F.L. estimates that number could rise to 30 percent, but special-teams coaches say at least 40 percent of kickoffs will end with the returner taking a knee in the end zone.

2011 August 6, Judy Battista, “Take a Knee or Take a Risk”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(American football, Canadian football) Of any player with the ball, to kneel and place the ball on the ground, thereby ending the play and indicating they do not intend to advance with the ball.


NFC

Initialism
* (unicode): in the Unicode sense, a compound of NF (“Normalization Form”) + C (“Canonical Decomposition, followed by Canonical Composition”).

compound

National Football Conference
w:National Football Conference

(American football) Initialism of National Football Conference.


screwback

There he was three into the bunker and bogey for the hole was four, and making up his mind to lay the ball dead, he took his niblick and executed a beautiful screwback shot which landed within a foot of the pin, rolled to the edge of the hole, and there stopped dead, doubtless owing to the eternally damned influence of the aforesaid cloven hoofprint.

2014, Margaret Irwin, These Mortals, →ISBN:

(golf) A powerful shot that imparts a spin to the ball.


Dodger

/ˈdɑd͡ʒə(ɹ)/

A member of the Dodgers US professional baseball team, either before or after they moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles.


grasscutter

(baseball, cricket) Synonym of worm burner (“a hard-hit ground ball”)


yellow hammer

Watching the ballgame today someone broke off a real good curve and I said, "That was a real yellow hammer."

Williams, getting steady doses of Koufax's "yellow hammer," struck out looking at a curve, Sandy's fifth K.

2004, Michael Coffey, 27 Men Out: Baseball's Perfect Games, updated edition, page 106

“Bastard curveball” is one of several names in baseball for a virtually unhittable curve that breaks so sharply it qualifies as yet another marvel of physics. Yakker. Bowel-locker. Yellow hammer. Take your pick.

2006, John Schuerholz, Larry Guest, Built to Win: Inside Stories And Leadership Strategies from Baseball's Winningest GM:

"[…]I know my baseball, and this kid was a beast. His fastball was okay, a cutter in the low nineties, but it was his dirty deuce that was outright nasty.”
DeBorn frowned. “Dirty deuce?”
“You know—the dirty yellow hammer . . . the yakker. Public enemy number two. A breaking ball, Bert! This kid had a breaking ball that was like hitting a lead shot put[…]"

2010, Steve Alten, Grim Reaper: End of Days, page 125:

(baseball) A curve ball, especially a breaking curve that is particularly difficult to hit.


ABs

(rugby) All Blacks, the New Zealand national rugby team.


ground ball with eyes

en-noun

ground ball with eyes (plural ground balls with eyes)

From the metaphor that the ball has eyes, allowing it to avoid the infielders.

(idiomatic, baseball, humorous) A weakly hit ground ball that barely evades the infielders.


double-break

In the seventh game of the deciding set, one backhand came in at a thundering 99mph – this was followed by a lightening forehand return from Nadal's next serve to make it 30-love. A double-break would have left Nadal with no out-clause, but he clung on to pull the score back to 4-3.

2012 June 28, Jamie Jackson, “Wimbledon 2012: Lukas Rosol shocked by miracle win over Rafael Nadal”, in the Guardian:

(tennis) In a set, an advantage equivalent to two breaks of serve.


red dog

red dog (countable and uncountable, plural red dogs)

(countable, US, American football) A blitz.


red dog

en-verb

red dog (third-person singular simple present red dogs, present participle red dogging, simple past and past participle red dogged)

red dogs (present singular third-person)
red dogging (participle present)
red dogged (participle past)
red dogged (past)


AAF

Alliance of American Football
w:Alliance of American Football

(American football) Initialism of Alliance of American Football.


shot clock

(basketball) A timer measuring the length of time since the last shot.

Top tennis stars will come under a 25-second shot clock in grand slam tournaments starting at the Australian Open in January.

2017 November 17 "Shot clock introduced for all Grand Slams" RTÉ, Ireland

(tennis) A countdown of the time remaining within which the current server must serve the ball.


penalty throw

(handball) A free throw taken by an attacker from 7 metres away, defended by the goalkeeper.


golden slam

(tennis, golf) Winning all four major championships (a grand slam) plus an Olympic gold medal.

calendar golden slam

inning all these in a calendar year or a single season

career golden slam

winning all these in the course of a career

non-calendar golden slam

holding all these as reigning champion all at one time, not in the course of one year/season, but spread over two


hot hand

(idiomatic, basketball) Used in reference to a player who makes a series of successful shots in a game.


body line

en-noun

body line (countable and uncountable, plural body lines)

(cricket) The bodyline style of bowling.


fumblerooski

From fumble + -roo (as in switcheroo) + -ski?

(American football) A trick play wherein the quarterback deliberately places or leaves the ball on the ground upon receiving it from the center, technically fumbling it, after which the backs run to the right, deceiving the defense into following them, while the right guard picks up the ball and runs to the left.


trick play

trick play (countable and uncountable, plural trick plays)

(American football) A play in American football that uses deception and unorthodox strategies to fool the opposing team.


rally cap

His cap was turned backwards in the manner of a catcher or a rally-cap, though he had no intention of catching and there certainly wasn't a rally going on.

2001, Melissa M. Dudek, Wildfire Summer: A Season With the Wyoming Wildfire, page 56:

"It's a rally cap! It's a rally cap!” shouted her father teasingly, rubbing her head with every base runner.

2005, Allen St. John, chapter 9, in Clapton's Guitar: Watching Wayne Henderson Build the Perfect Instrument, page 89:

[…]Brian always wore a Detroit Tigers baseball cap. He would turn his cap into a "rally cap" when anyone needed a bit of a rally in their lives.

2007, April 16th: Virginia Tech Remembers, page 207:

(US, baseball) A baseball cap worn inside-out and backwards, or in another unconventional manner, by players or fans, as a talisman in order to will a team into a come-from-behind rally late in the game.


three-and-out

(American football) The situation where a team is forced to punt the football without having made any first downs.


Basque pelota

Any of various forms of pelota, a court sport, played with a ball using one's hand, a racket, a wooden bat or a basket, against a wall or over a line or net against another team.


flash cut

Be in a strong, balanced stance and ready to withstand any contact that may take place as you stop the flash cut.

1994, Hal Wissel, Basketball: Steps to Success, →ISBN, page 201:

If the opponent's post players have an advantage in size and strength, the flash cut will not be as effective because the defender can step in front of the cut and use and arm bar to prevent it from being executed.

2007, Kathy McGee, Coaching Basketball Technical and Tactical Skills, →ISBN, page 144:

When the defenders switch, the screener is open (option b) on the inside flash cut (slip) to the ball.

2008, Jerry Krause, Don Meyer, Jerry Meyer, Basketball Skills and Drills, →ISBN, page 32:

(sports, basketball) A quick move from the weak side toward the ball.


sclaff

From Scot sclaf, to shuffle: of echoic orig (

(golf) A poor golf shot, where the club hits the ground before it hits the ball.


sclaff

en-verb

sclaff (third-person singular simple present sclaffs, present participle sclaffing, simple past and past participle sclaffed)

sclaffs (present singular third-person)
sclaffing (participle present)
sclaffed (participle past)
sclaffed (past)


floor general

(basketball) A point guard or other player who provides leadership by running the offense.


WHIP

walks plus hits per inning pitched
w:walks plus hits per inning pitched

(baseball) Acronym of walks plus hits per inning pitched; a statistic of the number of baserunners a pitcher has allowed per inning pitched.


backhead

backhead (third-person singular simple present backheads, present participle backheading, simple past and past participle backheaded)

backheads (present singular third-person)
backheading (participle present)
backheaded (participle past)
backheaded (past)

(soccer) To hit the ball with the back of the head


SUFC

Sheffield United Football Club, a famous English football club from Sheffield.


SWFC

Sheffield Wednesday Football Club
w:Sheffield Wednesday F.C.

Initialism of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club, an English football club from Sheffield.


Twin

(baseball) A player who plays for the Minnesota Twins.


Rangers

(baseball) The team Texas Rangers, located in Arlington, Texas.

(soccer) The team Rangers F.C., located in Glasgow.


crosskick

(rugby) A kicked pass from one side of the pitch to the other.


FA Cup

(soccer) The most prestigious cup competition held every season between clubs in the English leagues.


[Huw] Jones was also involved in the second try, which started when [Finn] Russell received the ball near his own 22 and immediately detected that England’s defence was narrow, with Jonny May having strayed infield.

2018 February 24, Paul Rees, “Finn Russell masterminds historic Scotland victory over England”, in The Guardian, London, archived from the original on 2018-04-22:


Irons

(soccer) West Ham United F.C. (a football club based in London).


Moneyball

After the 2003 book by business journalist Michael Lewis; from money + ball.

Sure, the Florida Marlins and some others have a shot, but the “Moneyball” approach — using spreadsheets and unconventional thinking to fell baseball’s rich Goliaths — seems to have been co-opted by the big guys themselves.

2009 August 7, Tom Kuntz, “‘Moneyball’ Is in a Slump”, in NYTimes Idea of the Day Blog:

Sure, statistical analysis has changed baseball's front offices for the better. A little. But most things haven't changed. The Red Sox version of Moneyball, after all, includes lots and lots of money, and there's nothing new there.

2011 September 2, “The ‘Moneyball’ Effect: Are Sabermetrics Good for Sports?”, in The Atlantic:

The moneyball formula in baseball—replacing scouts’ traditional beliefs and biases about players with data-intensive studies of what skills actually contribute most to winning—is just as applicable to the battle against out-of-control health-care costs.

2013 June 20, John Bridgeland, Peter Orszag, “Can Government Play Moneyball?”, in The Atlantic:

(baseball) Baseball management relying on sabermetrics.


check swing

(baseball) A checked (halted, partial) swing of the bat.


(American football) Initialism of first down.


Süper Lig

(soccer) The highest division of professional football in Turkey.


park the bus

park the bus (third-person singular simple present parks the bus, present participle parking the bus, simple past and past participle parked the bus)

parks the bus (present singular third-person)
parking the bus (participle present)
parked the bus (participle past)
parked the bus (past)

England goalkeeper Gordon Banks resisted everything Liverpool threw at him that day, as City parked the bus and banked on snatching the vital single goal and then holding on.

2011, John Williams, Red Men: Liverpool Football Club – The Biography:

Dan is Head Groundsman at Swansea, who in 2011/12 won plaudits For their positive, passing game - showing that you don't need to park the bus as a promoted side to retain top-flight status.

2012, The League Doesn't Lie: The 606 Book of Football Lists, page 311:

(soccer, idiomatic) To attempt to stop the opposition team from scoring a goal by playing extremely defensively and placing as many players as possible behind the ball.


ECWC

European Cup Winners Cup
w:European Cup Winners Cup

(soccer) Initialism of European Cup Winners Cup.


shot stopper

(soccer, colloquial) A goalkeeper. More specifically refers to the ability to make saves, as opposed to other areas of goalkeeping like distribution and coming off the line.


tag up

tag up (third-person singular simple present tags up, present participle tagging up, simple past and past participle tagged up)

tags up (present singular third-person)
tagging up (participle present)
tagged up (participle past)
tagged up (past)

(baseball) Of a baserunner, when a fly ball is hit, to put one's foot on the base one is currently at until the ball is caught. When the ball is caught, the baserunner may attempt to advance to the next base, at the risk of being tagged out.


hipball

An ancient Mesoamerican ball game where the ball was kept in play by striking it with the hip.


red ball

* ("high-profile high-priority" sense) From a routing system on the Santa Fe Railroad in the early 1900s. Fast freight trains which were to receive priority routing were marked with placards depicting a red disc, and were called "red ball" trains.

Or are the red-ball and white-ball games diverging to the extent that it is possible to envisage a future where they are, to all intents and purposes, different sports?

2017 January 28, Jonathan Liew, “To cling together or drift apart? Red and white-ball cricket facing a divided future”, in The Daily Telegraph, London:

limited overs cricket
limited overs cricket

(cricket, journalism, metonymically, uncountable) first-class cricket, as distinct from limited overs cricket (or "white ball")


flea flicker

(American football) A trick offensive play in which the quarterback laterals the ball to the running back, who then runs a short distance, then laterals the ball back to the quarterback.


boys of summer

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-boys of summer.wav

Baseball is a traditional summer pastime for young men.

(poetic) People who play baseball, particularly in the major leagues.


PTBNL

If the PTBNL is Ben Ford, or if the DBacks plan on signing Womack long-term, then this is definitely a bad trade. As I see it now, I'd say there's a 90% chance the DBacks get the better end (by a tiny tiny margin) and a 10% chance the Pirates get the better end (possibly by a huge margin).

1999 February 27, ddr...@imap1.asu.edu, “Re: Arizona does it again...”, in rec.sport.baseball (Usenet):

player to be named later
player to be named later#English

(baseball) Initialism of player to be named later (“an unspecified player, either not yet chosen or named publicly, at the time of a trade between teams”).


JDT

(soccer, Malaysia) Initialism of Johor Darul Ta'zim F.C.. (a Malaysian football club)


scorpion volley

en-noun

scorpion volley (plural scorpion volleys)


tiki-taka

(soccer) A style of play characterised by short passing and movement, working the ball through various channels, and maintaining possession.


niblick shot

The feeling of satisfaction when one hits a good drive is different from that attendant on hitting a good niblick shot; and both are quite different from that attendant on writing a good sentence or doing a good dive.

1958–1960, R.S. Peters, The Concept of Motivation, Routledge & Kegan Paul (second edition), chapter i: “Types of Explanation in Psychological Theories”, page 25

(golf, dated) A shot traversing a short distance that requires the use of a sand wedge, typically taken from a bunker.


oggy

Phonetic reading of OG, or OG + -y (diminutive suffix).

A more recent City centre-half scored two 'oggies' in only 5 league appearances during the early 2000s.

2012 January 31, David Collins, Gareth Bennett, Never Mind the Bluebirds: The Ultimate Cardiff City Quiz Book, The History Press, →ISBN, page 2:

'Dad, there's been an oggy!' The own goal, prized as it is, is something of a rare species at training grounds.

2019 October 17, Peter Crouch, I, Robot: How to Be a Footballer 2, Random House, →ISBN:

Euro 2024 was one own goal short of the all-time record for the most "oggies" at a single European Championship!

2024 September 26, MATCH, Match Annual 2025: The UK's Best-selling Football Annual!, Pan Macmillan, →ISBN, page 82:


Confed

(soccer, informal) The Confederations Cup


West Brom

(informal, soccer) West Bromwich Albion Football Club


boot boy

Among Bryan Gunn's myriad incarnations, from Alex Ferguson's babysitter through Scotland goalkeeper to Norwich manager, boot boy to Alex McLeish was one of the less successful. Once, just before a Scottish Cup final, McLeish discovered his size 10s were still in Aberdeen.

2009 March 22, Phil Shaw, “Gunn peppers Birmingham's automatic promotion hopes”, in The Guardian:

(British, soccer) A boy who cares for a footballer's boots.


Sherrin

From the brand name; invented by Thomas William Sherrin in 1880.

Give the Sherrin to the umpire.

Australian rules football
Australian rules football

Australian rules
Australian rules football

(Australia, Australian rules football) A football used in Australian rules.


foothole

From foot + hole, possibly influenced by foothold.

The 24-year-old, who made three one-day appearances against Australia last summer, injured his ankle on Wednesday and further damaged it yesterday when he slipped in the footholes.

"The wicket didn't play too bad today. Day five is going to be the biggest worry. The footholes will get bigger as the day goes on."

(cricket) A hole in a cricket pitch made by the bowler's foot during the runup.


drive in

en-verb

drive in (third-person singular simple present drives in, present participle driving in, simple past drove in, past participle driven in)

drives in (present singular third-person)
driving in (participle present)
drove in (past)
driven in (participle past)

(transitive, baseball, of a hitter) To hit the ball or reach base in such a way that a run scores.


pitch up

pitch up (third-person singular simple present pitches up, present participle pitching up, simple past and past participle pitched up)

pitches up (present singular third-person)
pitching up (participle present)
pitched up (participle past)
pitched up (past)

(transitive, cricket) To bowl (a delivery) on a fuller length.


red-inker

(informal, cricket) A not out batsman (whose score is recorded in red ink).


sixth man

(basketball) A player who is not a starter but comes off the bench much more often than other reserves.


speckie

spectacular mark
spectacular mark#English

(Australia, Australian rules football, informal) Synonym of spectacular mark


forward line

(Gaelic football, Australian rules football) Collectively, the three full forwards

Gaelic football; Australian rules football; Gaelic football; Australian rules football

Now Hodgson just has to work out a makeshift forward line against a Ukraine team who warmed up for Tuesday by doling out the obligatory thrashing to San Marino, knocking in four goals by half-time and another five in the second half.

6 September 2013, Daniel Taylor, “Danny Welbeck leads England's rout of Moldova but hit by Ukraine ban”, in The Guardian:


cuju

An ancient Chinese ball game involving kicking a ball through an opening into a net.


episkyros

An Ancient Greek ball game in which players on two teams attempted to throw the ball over the heads of the other team.


tchoukball

An indoor ball game for two teams of twelve players (seven on the court at any time), in which points are scored by throwing the ball so that it hits a frame and bounces outside of a semicircular region.


fistball

A European sport in which players attempt to hit a ball over a net with fists or arms.


kemari

Borrowed from Japanese 蹴鞠(けまり) (kemari), from Chinese 蹴鞠 (cùjú).

An ancient Japanese ball game, still played in modern times, in which players cooperate to try to keep a deerskin ball in the air.


English disease

A calque of phrases from various languages, including the French maladie anglaise, Polish angielska choroba, German englische Krankheit, and the Russian англи́йская боле́знь (anglíjskaja boléznʹ).

calque

англи́йская боле́знь


Old Firm

(soccer) Collectively, the two Scottish football teams Rangers and Celtic, both based in Glasgow, which are the most successful teams in Scotland. They have a fierce and long-standing rivalry.


LOOGY

(baseball) Lefty one-out guy, or left-handed one-out guy, a left-handed pitcher who specializes in pitching to left-handed batters and rarely faces right-handed batters.


ticat

(Canadian football) A team member for the Canadian Football League's Hamilton Tiger-Cats. (Rendered as Ti-Cat.)


take it to the house

en-verb

take it to the house (third-person singular simple present takes it to the house, present participle taking it to the house, simple past took it to the house, past participle taken it to the house)

takes it to the house (present singular third-person)
taking it to the house (participle present)
took it to the house (past)
taken it to the house (participle past)

(American football) To score a touchdown, especially after a long run.


bang-bang

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-bang-bang.wav

In a game between Los Angeles and host Cincinnati, the Dodgers second baseman is called out at first base on a bang-bang play.

2006, Dom Forker, Big League Baseball Puzzlers, →ISBN, page 41:

(baseball) Of a play, very close between being an out and being safe.


thirteener

From thirteen + -er (suffix denoting people characterized by something, or people or things to which certain measurements or numbers apply).

affix

oner · twoer · fiver · sixer · Sevener · niner · tenner · elevener · twelver · fourteener · fifteener · sixteener · hundreder · thousander · twenty-five-thousander

[A. C.] King once hit a "thirteener" in a match on the school ground. Probably the ball got lost for a minute or two in long grass, or perhaps it was badly overthrown. But, however it happened, there stands the score in the official book, a "13." clearly got in one fell swoop by the hard-hitting King.

1908 August 29, George A. Wade, “Notable Cricket Feats by Schoolboys”, in The Boy’s Own Paper, volume XXX, number 48 (number 1546 overall), London: “Boy’s Own Paper” Office, […], →OCLC, page 765, column 1:


Dagger

(soccer) A player, supporter or other person connected with Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club.


Gull

In reference to the seagulls found in Torquay, a coastal town.

(soccer) A player, supporter or other person connected with Torquay United Football Club.


fag out

en-verb

fag out (third-person singular simple present fags out, present participle fagging out, simple past and past participle fagged out)

fags out (present singular third-person)
fagging out (participle present)
fagged out (participle past)
fagged out (past)

(cricket, obsolete) To come on as a fielder at the behest of a senior student in British schools.


Shrimp

(soccer) A player, supporter or other person connected with Morecambe Football Club.


duck fart

Surhoff blooped a weak duck fart into shallow right field.

(baseball, slang) A ball hit by a batter into the gray area between the infield and outfield, usually tailing away from whoever is trying to catch it.


Buccos

(US, baseball) nickname of the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team.


G-men

(US, American football) A nickname of the New York Giants football team.


greensome

(golf) A foursome game with the difference that both players tee off on every hole. The better ball is chosen and alternate strokes are then played to complete the hole.


Cove

(Australia, soccer) The official active supporters' group of Sydney FC (an Australian soccer club based in Sydney).


Messian

Every game, every attempted dribble, every pass, every goal (all of which, together, create the Messian mode of jouissance), is an “experiment” in which Messi seeks to conserve himself at the highest possible level, with the greatest amount of integrity.

2019, Grant Farred, Entre Nous: Between the World Cup and Me, Durham, NC: Duke University Press, →ISBN, page unknown:

This week Lothar Matthaus compared him to Lionel Messi. […] His goal was typically Messian, he dribbled to the edge of the box before presenting the ball to a team-mate, and telegraphing with his run where he wanted the ball played back to him before sending an unerring shot at goal.

2022 October 29, “Bayern Munich 6-2 Mainz: Sadio Mane one of six different players to score as Julian Nagelsmann's team move top”, in Eurosport:

There is a kind of melancholy to the final from a Messian perspective. Argentina are favourites to win their first World Cup since 1986, reaching this point after playing some of the most impressive and effective football of the tournament.

2022 December 18, Samantha Lewis, “Argentina and France might be playing in the final but Qatar is the real winner of the FIFA World Cup”, in ABC News:

(soccer, rare) Of or pertaining to Lionel Messi (born 1987), Argentine professional footballer, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.


FCUM

F.C. United of Manchester
w:F.C. United of Manchester

(UK, soccer) Initialism of F.C. United of Manchester.


Citeh

Respelling of a local pronunciation of (Manchester) city.

(soccer, informal) Manchester City Football Club


MCFC

Manchester City Football Club
w:Manchester City F.C.

(soccer) Initialism of Manchester City Football Club.

Melbourne City Football Club
w:Melbourne City FC

(soccer) Initialism of Melbourne City Football Club.


Cup Final

(England and Wales, soccer) The last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup competition.


six-pointer

Sammy Lee has gone from Bolton and Fulham's Lawrie Sanchez is talking about six-pointers.

2007, Stuart Barnes, Sanchez's six-pointer stalemate, The Guardian

Manuel Pellegrini believes Arsenal are still in the title race but sees Saturday's clash as a six-pointer that could allow his side to open up a 12-point gap on Arsene Wenger's side.

2014, Arsenal match is a six-pointer, insists Pellegrini, ESPN

(soccer) A match between two teams on a similar number of points (in a league using the three points for a win system), such that the difference between a side winning and losing the match is a six-point swing relative to their opponents.


no-doubter

(baseball slang) a certain home run; a home run about which there is no doubt.


stampeder

(Canadian football) A team member for the Canadian Football League's Calgary Stampeders. (Rendered with a capital 'S' as Stampeder.)


tiger cat

(Canadian football) A member of the Canadian Football League's Hamilton Tiger-Cats (rendered as Tiger-Cat).


leg before

Leg before wicket
leg before wicket#English

(cricket, colloquial) Leg before wicket.


West Coast offense

en-noun

West Coast offense (plural West Coast offenses)

(American football) An offense that places a greater emphasis on passing than on running.


Knickerbockers

National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association

(basketball, uncommon) The formal name of the New York Knicks, a team in the National Basketball Association

(baseball, historical) A short-lived 19th-century baseball team in New York


Knickerbocker

A History of New York
Diedrich Knickerbocker
Knickerbocker
Washington Irving

From Diedrich Knickerbocker, the pseudonym adopted by Washington Irving for his 1809 A History of New York, probably for the Knickerbackers of Schaghticoke, New York, descended from the Dutch immigrant Harmen Jansen van Bommel(l), who went variously by the names van Wy(y)e, van Wyekycback(e), Kinnekerbacker, Knickelbacker, Knickerbacker, Kinckerbacker, Nyckbacker, and Kynckbacker. The surname is of uncertain etymology, being variously explained as a corruption of Wyekycback, Dutch knacker (“cracker”) + German Bäcker, Dutch bakker (“baker”), or Dutch knicker (“marble (toy)”) + German Bäcker, Dutch bakker.

(basketball, uncommon) A player for the New York Knicks

(baseball, historical) A player for the New York Knickerbockers


serve and volley

(tennis) A tactic where a player serves and immediately moves towards the net in an attempt to hit a volley.


serve and volley

en-verb

serve and volley (third-person singular simple present serves and volleys, present participle serving and volleying, simple past and past participle served and volleyed)

serves and volleys (present singular third-person)
serving and volleying (participle present)
served and volleyed (participle past)
served and volleyed (past)


penalty mark

(soccer) a small white spot, painted on the grass, twelve yards in front of the centre of the goal line, from which all penalty kicks are taken


big bat

(baseball, colloquial) A player who specializes in hitting home runs.


out ground

Out ground cricket these days is not particularly fashionable for counties…

2006, Edward Craig, Out of town but not out of favour, Cricinfo

I love playing at out grounds because there is always a festival feel about the ground and they always have endearing, if not quirky, characteristics.

2011, Luke Sutton, Luke at county cricket: That festival feel at Chesterfield and Dhoni's hair-raiser, Daily Mail

His best performance came at another out ground, St George's Road in Harrogate.

2013, Andrew Glover, Remembering Yorkshire County Cricket Club's out grounds, BBC:

(cricket) A ground other than a team's home ground, used for occasional matches.


how's that

(cricket) Used to make an appeal to the umpire as to whether the batsman is out or not


lower order

(cricket) The batsmen, constituting the tail, who bat last - roughly in positions 8 to 11.


row Z

Victoria Park's diminutive stands may preclude launching the ball into Row Z, but Row A would have sufficed as Hartlepool's otherwise dependable defender Chris Westwood looked to clear his lines.

2002, Jason Mellor, “Hartlepool hopes go west after late slip-up”, in The Guardian:

1446: Bobby Zamora smashes a volley into row Z, which is very much appreciated by the West Ham fans.

2010, Caroline Cheese, “Premier League as it happened”, in BBC Sport:

Sturridge’s curling strike looked dull in comparison to this wonder throw, with the expertly folded flyer gliding from row z onto the pitch and straight into the Peruvian’s face, as the crowd at the Home of Football erupted.

2014, "Direct hit! Peru star hit by England fans' paper plane after INSANE row z throw", talkSPORT

(soccer, humorous) The back row or rows of the stands.


nervous nineties

I have never found anything particularly significant in the term nervous nineties for I firmly believe that a batsman should treat every ball on its merits, be his score 9 or 90.

Watson nearly fell again in the nervous nineties when Bresnan took an overhead catch at long off when the all-rounder was on 90 but the fieldsman tumbled over the rope and a six was declared.

2013, Chris Barrett, “Shane Watson belts brutal century as George Bailey sets record against James Anderson”, in The Sydney Morning Herald:

(cricket) The set of individual scores between 90 and 99, when a batsman may play badly due to feeling pressure to convert the score into a century.


long game

[T]he Seahawks held Newton to 119 passing yards, as the Panthers kept mainly to the ground and Seattle's secondary shut down the long game.

2013 September 8, “What we saw: Seahawks 12, at Panthers 7”, in Seattle Post-Intelligencer, retrieved 2014-07-11:

(American football) The aspect of the game in which the strategy is to advance downfield by throwing the ball to a receiving player; the passing game.

“[E]verybody thinks when the wind blows it affects the long game the most, but it doesn’t,” Westwood said. “It tends to affect the putting most.”

2010 July 18, Christopher Clarey, “Another Second for Golf’s Latest Near-Miss Man”, in New York Times, retrieved 2014-07-11:

(golf) The portion of the game, played with driver clubs, in which the ball is advanced down the fairway to the putting green.


the handbags come out

Coined 2004, circa March 2nd, by Jeremy St. Louis on the radio show Fox Sports World Report. From women hitting each other with handbags during a catfight; compare earlier handbags, handbags at dawn.

"I'm ready to take the blame for all the problems of English football, if that is what he wants."
The handbags come out early doors when Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger responds to Ferguson's dig about the Gunners' foreign contingent.

2008, Chris Charles, BBC Sport, 12 May 2008, “Premier League quotes of the season”

The handbags have come out after a diplomatic argument between Israel and Brazil got, well, very personal.

2014, Oliver Wheaton, Metro, 26 Jul 2014, “Handbags: Israel has dig at Brazil’s 7-1 World Cup defeat after diplomatic row over Gaza bombing”

(UK, idiomatic, soccer, rare) A row intensifies; a dispute becomes heated.


Ashes

The superlatives have been 'wrung dry to describe' that tumultous heart-warming welcome in Sydney and beyond, the kind of picture we needed to stir us from such melancholy contemplations as our cricketers' fall from Ashes glory in the West Indies.

1954 March 1, The Morning Bulletin, Rockhampton, page 2, column 4:

My Ashes experiences have led to lifelong friendships with numerous Australians as well as England team-mates.

2015, Steven Lynch, Wisden on the Ashes:


you beauty

(Australian rules football) An exclamation of joy or enthusiasm, often said in response to a player taking a specky or kicking a great goal.


deuce court

(tennis) The receiver's right-side service box, or the opponent's left for the server, being the receiving side for a deuce point.


forecaddie

(golf) A caddie who does not carry clubs, but locates balls and gets groups of players to move around the course.


forecaddie

forecaddie (third-person singular simple present forecaddies, present participle forecaddying, simple past and past participle forecaddied)

forecaddies (present singular third-person)
forecaddying (participle present)
forecaddied (participle past)
forecaddied (past)

(golf, intransitive) To act as a forecaddie.


circle changeup

en-noun

circle changeup (plural circle changeups)

(baseball) A pitch thrown with a grip where the pitcher makes a circle with the index finger, holding the thumb at the bottom of the ball parallel to the middle finger and holding the ball far out in the hand.


lay back

en-verb

lay back (third-person singular simple present lays back, present participle laying back, simple past and past participle laid back)

lays back (present singular third-person)
laying back (participle present)
laid back (participle past)
laid back (past)

The ball ran loose to Sheringham and whereas less experienced players might have tried to score from a difficult angle he laid it back to Benayoun, whose shot was blocked by Curtis Davies.

2005 November 7, David Lacey, “Sheringham's veteran vision shows up the big problem with West Brom”, in The Guardian:

(soccer, transitive) To make a short backward pass to a teammate in an attacking position.


Panenka

Named after Antonín Panenka, a Czech football player who scored a softly-struck chipped penalty kick down the middle of the goal to win the penalty shootout in the UEFA Euro 1976 Final

Amazingly, in the most important football competition in the world, he had scored a penalty kick in the most risky and theatrical way possible, with what is called a panenka, after Antonín Panenka, a Czech footballer who in 1976 scored a vital penalty kick by chipping the ball over the goalkeeper into the center of the net.

2010, Laurent Dubois, Soccer Empire: The World Cup and the Future of France:

Up stepped Pirlo, who coolly took a Panenka as Hart dived to his right.

2015, Ben Lyttleton, Twelve Yards: The Art and Psychology of the Perfect Penalty Kick:

Best used for penalties that are scored in a tidy, unfussy manner – no impudent Panenkas or short runups welcome here, thanks.

2015, Adam Hurrey, Football Clichés: Decoding the Oddball Phrases, Colorful Gestures, and Unwritten Rules of Soccer Across the Pond:

(soccer) A softly-struck chipped penalty kick into the middle of the goal.


serve-volleyer

Tim Henman, now thirty years old and never a champion, is the only top ten serve-volleyer, and less than a dozen top 100 players frequently do it.

2009, Paul Fein, Tennis Confidential II: More of Today's Greatest Players, Matches, and Controversies, →ISBN:

(tennis) A player who employs the serve and volley strategy.


fox in the box

(soccer, UK, informal) A player with good finishing and movement inside the penalty area; a poacher.


heavy hitter

This year's heavy hitter is Bobby Bonilla, the Pirates' slugger who's seeking to hit the biggest home run of his life.

1991 November 20, Claire Smith, “On Baseball: Bonilla Barnstorming In Search of Best Deal”, in New York Times, retrieved 2014-08-20:

The congenial heavy hitter is one of the most beloved players in Twins history, as much for his gentle and approachable nature off the field as for the towering home runs he hit during his playing days.

2010 December 30, Associated Press, “MLB Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew has esophageal cancer”, in New York Daily News, retrieved 2014-08-20:

(baseball) A player with a favorable batting average who is especially good at hitting the ball deep into the outfield or farther.


strike out looking

strike out looking (third-person singular simple present strikes out looking, present participle striking out looking, simple past and past participle struck out looking)

strikes out looking (present singular third-person)
striking out looking (participle present)
struck out looking (participle past)
struck out looking (past)

(transitive, baseball, softball) To strike out (a batter) without the batter swinging at the called strike.

(intransitive, baseball, softball) To strike out without swinging at the called strike.


18-yard line

Van Gaal used his third substitute, James Wilson, well before the hour, and Welbeck, allowed to drift across the MK 18-yard line, drove a right-foot shot only just wide, but Robinson’s side were always alert to the possibility of a break.

2014 August 26, Richard Rae, “Manchester United humbled by MK Dons after Will Grigg hits double”, in The Guardian:

(soccer) The line on the pitch, 18 yards from the goal line, marking the outside of the penalty box


in the refrigerator

This game's in the refrigerator. The door's closed, the light's out, the eggs are cooling, the butter's getting hard and the Jell-O's jiggling!

(basketball, slang) Of a game: having its outcome beyond a doubt, despite the fact that time is remaining before the final buzzer.


draw iron

draw iron (third-person singular simple present draws iron, present participle drawing iron, simple past drew iron, past participle drawn iron)

draws iron (present singular third-person)
drawing iron (participle present)
drew iron (past)
drawn iron (participle past)


feature back

Colton Hansel was the Spartans’ feature back and netted 38 yards on 16 carries.

2014, Linder, Jeff, "Xavier’s district debut is a dandy," Cedar Rapids Gazette, September 13, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20160311181713/http://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/xaviers-district-debut-is-a-dandy-20140912

(US, American football) In American football, a back – usually a running back – that gets the most carries and most yardage in a game.


playcalling

(American football) The communication between coach and players of the plays to be used during a game.


play-action pass

en-noun

play-action pass (plural play-action passes)

(American football) A certain kind of play; see Wikipedia article for details.


chip and charge

(tennis) A weak groundstroke followed immediately by an advance towards the net.


chip and charge

en-verb

chip and charge (third-person singular simple present chips and charges, present participle chipping and charging, simple past and past participle chipped and charged)

chips and charges (present singular third-person)
chipping and charging (participle present)
chipped and charged (participle past)
chipped and charged (past)

(tennis) To hit a weak groundstroke and advance towards the net.


three-pointer

A basket by Texas' Hamilton and a three-pointer by Madsen put the Longhorns ahead.

1948, The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Basketball Guide:

I'd like to see a long shot beyond an established line become a three pointer. It would stand out like a home run in baseball.

1966, Bob Pettit, Bob Wolf, Bob Pettit: The Drive Inside Me:

(basketball) A three-point shot; a basket made from beyond the three-point line.


Altuve

After José Altuve, Venezuelan-American baseball player who stands five feet, five inches tall.

So, if you want to know the minimum length of a World Cup Soccer field while watching TV, it's 60.9 Altuves.

2014 June 30, Bob Nightengale, “Diminutive dandy: Jose Altuve keeps reaching new heights”, in USA Today:

In 2012 Houston Astros fan Bryan Trostel was watching a game when he heard the announcers joke about how many “altuves” a home run had traveled.

2015, Uncle John's FACTASTIC Bathroom Reader, →ISBN:

Judge is 1.22 Altuves. Is there a drawback to being a big man in baseball?

2017 October 13, Victor Mather, “David vs. Goliath Gets an Update: It's Now Altuve vs. Judge”, in New York Times:

No matter how you slice it, Altuve is one of the best hitters in baseball despite yielding at least 7 inches (that’s about .108 Altuves) to every other elite hitter.

2018 February 20, Kate Preusser, Isabelle Minasian, Tim Cantu, Connor Donovan, “2018 AL West Preview: The Astros’ Lineup”, in Lookout Landing:

Want to know how many Altuves there are from home plate to first base? That would be 16.61436219309581.

2018 June 1, Melanie Hauser, “Ways to recover from the Rockets' loss”, in Houston Chronicle:

(baseball, slang) A distance of five feet and five inches, used chiefly as a unit to measure distances of home run balls.


West Ham

From Old English west (“west”) + hamm (“water-meadow”).

Short for West Ham United, a football team in the English league.


football pitch

en-noun

football pitch (plural football pitches)

A playing field on which the game of football is played.

New research out this morning shows that roughly 1.8m square metres of office floor space was taken out of use in the UK in the past year. The move, equivalent to 248 football pitches,[…]

2022 November 26, Michiel Willems, “Hybrid jobs: 248 football pitches of office space has simply vanished”, in cityam.com:

Association football
Association football

(by extension) An informal unit of measure of area, equal to the area of an Association football pitch (typically 76,900 square feet or 1.76 acres).


service court

(tennis) The part of the court in which the ball must land on a serve.


mini-break

From mini- + break (“game won against the server”).

prefix

Coordinate term: mini-hold

(tennis) In a tiebreak, a point won against the server when ahead.


onballer

(Australian rules football) Any of the three players (the ruckman, ruck rover, and rover) who usually follow the ball around the ground rather than occupying a fixed position.


flying wedge

(aviation, American football) A formation in which a group travels so that its components form a triangular shape.


Tartan Army

The widely predicted jeering of Aiden McGeady from the Tartan Army briefly turned to cheers when he was next to see a yellow card for a poor challenge on Fletcher.

2014 November 14, Stephen Halliday, “Scotland 1-0 Republic of Ireland: Maloney the hero”, in The Scotsman:

(soccer) The fans of the Scottish national football team


Hail Mary pass

en-noun

Hail Mary pass (plural Hail Mary passes)

From Hail Mary, a prayer for intercession, from Latin Ave Maria, plus pass (“moving the ball from one player to another”). Attested from the 1970s in the context of American football.

With 11:04 left in the game, and a comfortable 38–14 lead, Smith heaved a 62-yard, Hail Mary pass to Carter.

1983, “A Run for the Roses”, in Michigan Ensian, page 120:

Maybe I should just toss up a “Hail Mary” pass deep into their territory, as though I was saying a prayer that one of our players would catch it.

1990, Michael Teitelbaum, Play Book! Football, →OCLC, page 35:

The black sky emptied as about 50,000 rain-soaked University of Colorado football fans exhaled in improbable joy at Folsom Field. This was after the Hail Mary pass caught as time expired, after the game-clinching fumble that squirted out of the end zone in overtime.

2024 October 4, John Branch, “What Does College Football Have to Do With College?”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:

(American football) A long forward pass with little chance of completion, typically used by the losing team when time is running out and no other play is practical, in a desperate attempt to score the winning points.

Hail Mary

American football: pass with little chance of completion


under center

Bill O’Brien’s quarterback preferences aren’t quite as clear, and the Texans don’t have an obvious solution under center, but he’s also exhibited an interest in big-armed mediocrities.

2014, Bill Barnwell, What’s Next for RG3? Breaking Down 10 Possible Destinations:

(American football) Playing at the quarterback position.

(American football) (Of the quarterback) initiating play from immediately behind the center.


win one for the Gipper

en-verb

win one for the Gipper (third-person singular simple present wins one for the Gipper, present participle winning one for the Gipper, simple past and past participle won one for the Gipper)

wins one for the Gipper (present singular third-person)
winning one for the Gipper (participle present)
won one for the Gipper (participle past)
won one for the Gipper (past)

Attributed to Knute Rockne, coach of the Notre Dame football team, during a 1928 American football game between Notre Dame and the Army. During a half-time talk to his team, who were losing the game, he encouraged the team with the death-bed speech of former player George "The Gipper" Gipp:
: "I've got to go, Rock. It's all right. I'm not afraid. Some time, Rock, when the team is up against it, when things are wrong and the breaks are beating the boys, ask them to go in there with all they've got and win just one for the Gipper. I don't know where I'll be then, Rock. But I'll know about it, and I'll be happy."
Popularized by the 1940 film Knute Rockne, All American, which starred future President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, as George Gipp.

(idiomatic, American football) To do something in memory of another person.


Selection Sunday

en-noun

Selection Sunday (plural Selection Sundays)

(US, basketball) The Sunday in March on which the teams that participate in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament are selected.

(US, American football) The Sunday in December on which the college teams that participate in major bowl games are announced.


bowl game

From Rose Bowl Game, played in the Rose Bowl stadium, in turn named for the bowl-shaped Yale Bowl.

(US, American football) A postseason college football competition.

Rose Bowl (stadium)
Rose Bowl Game
Yale Bowl


I formation

From the vertical (as viewed from the opposing endzone) alignment of quarterback, fullback, and running back, particularly when contrasted with the same players' alignments in the T formation.

(American football) A common offensive formation, beginning with the usual five offensive linemen (two offensive tackles, two guards, and a center), the quarterback under center, and two backs in-line behind the quarterback. The base variant adds a tight end to one side of the line and two wide receivers, one at each end of the line.

(tennis) A formation in doubles where the server's partner starts crouched down close to the center of the net


complete game

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-complete game.wav

(baseball) A game during which the starting pitcher pitches for the entirety of the game, without a relief pitcher.


TMO

But before he could take the penalty there was a dramatic intervention from Irish TMO Joy Neville. She had spotted Russell trying to halt Youngs with his outstretched right leg and the Scotland stand-off was punished with ten minutes in the sin-bin.

2021 February 6, Graham Bean, “Scotland beat England at Twickenham for the first time in 38 years”, in The Scotsman:

television match official
television match official#English

(rugby) Initialism of television match official.


scissor tackle

Arsenal's Emmanuel Eboué has defended his scissor tackle on Liam Ridgewell by insisting that he "did not want to kill" the Birmingham player in Saturday's match at the Emirates.

2010, I did not want to kill Liam Ridgewell, says Emmanuel Eboué, The Guardian

As he looks to get a shot away, a clumsy, lunging scissor tackle by Ledley King drags him to the ground.

2013, Steve Mingle, From Balti Pies to the Biggest Prize: The Rebirth of Manchester City:

(soccer) A tackle where one player slides in and wraps their legs either side of an opponent's legs.


splitfinger

split-finger fastball
split-finger fastball


soft hand

(cricket) A grip on the bat that merely stops the ball moving towards the wicket


go deep

en-verb

go deep (third-person singular simple present goes deep, present participle going deep, simple past went deep, past participle gone deep)

goes deep (present singular third-person)
going deep (participle present)
went deep (past)
gone deep (participle past)

On this play, we're going to fake a short pass but go deep to Kelly or Chris.

(American football, Canadian football) To throw a long pass attempt or to get in position to catch one.


run deep

run deep (third-person singular simple present runs deep, present participle running deep, simple past ran deep, past participle run deep)

runs deep (present singular third-person)
running deep (participle present)
ran deep (past)
run deep (participle past)

(American football, Canadian football) Synonym of go deep


rabona

(soccer) A kick made with the kicking leg crossed behind the other leg.


solo run

Dublin fired a second goal when Noelle Healy ended her fine solo run with an impressive finish.

2014 (August 23) Jason Byrne, "Dublin ladies through to All Ireland semi final after beating Kerry" Irish Independent

(Gaelic football) A run made while soloing (and possibly bouncing) the football.


code-switch

code-switch (third-person singular simple present code-switches, present participle code-switching, simple past and past participle code-switched)

code-switches (present singular third-person)
code-switching (participle present)
code-switched (participle past)
code-switched (past)

(rugby, intransitive) To change from playing rugby league to rugby union or vice versa.


smear the queer

A children's game in which the main player, called the "queer", runs around with a football as the other players attempt to tackle him and take possession of the ball while shouting, "Smear the queer!" The player who successfully does this becomes the new queer, and the game continues as before.


military medium

When TV cricket is dull—and even on the Saturday of the Lord's Test most of the bowling was "military medium" and most of the batting was of the prod and push variety—I take refuge in the verbal gymnastics of the commentators.

A total of 109 was never going to be enough for Cuba, let down by their baseball-style batting again, and they couldn't cope with the military medium bowling of our imbedded Telegraph journalist Tony Francis, another son of Leicester, who made a remarkable five for nineteen, which made his day too.

(cricket) Straight, medium pace (bowling).


frozen rope

(basketball) A shot, especially a free throw, with little or no arc.


Chinese home run

en-noun

Chinese home run (plural Chinese home runs)

Either from supposed tendency of early 20th-century Chinese immigrants to the United States to do minimally acceptable work for minimal compensation, or a possible corruption of "Chaney's home run" from such a hit by a batter with that name that ended a game when the ball could not be found.

Chinese home run: 1. A derogatory term for a home run hit over the portion of the outfield fence closest to home plate, often one that lands just inside (or hits) the foul pole in a ballpark with small dimensions.

2011, Paul Dickson, The Dickson Baseball Dictionary, W.W. Norton & Co., pages 182-184:

(derogatory, dated) A home run hit to the minimum distance possible, usually just over the outfield fence closest to home plate.

Hal was too small to play, but he sat far out in foul territory, sucking on his blueberry Popsicle and chasing what the big kids called "Chinese home runs." (Cited at Dickson, above. He further quotes correspondence from King that indicates that his understanding of this term was that it applied to a foul ball over the backstop)

1985, Stephen King, “The Monkey”, in Skeleton Crew, Putnam, page 163:

(New England) A foul ball hit high and far, usually over the back of the plate.


target man

For Galaxy coach Bruce Arena, however, it was further evidence his decision to add the former San Jose Earthquakes target man was on the money. Despite the precision passing of Robbie Keane and the pace of Gyasi Zardes up front, Gordon can still come on late for LA to go route one and chuck it in the mixer, or at least make the most out of set-pieces like corners.

2015 March 16, Richard Whittall, Graham Parker, “Turf war escalates as New York City FC makes home debut in week two”, in The Guardian:


go up for

en-verb

go up for (third-person singular simple present goes up for, present participle going up for, simple past went up for, past participle gone up for)

goes up for (present singular third-person)
going up for (participle present)
went up for (past)
gone up for (participle past)

the keeper went up for a caught behind

(cricket, informal) Of the fielding side, to appeal for the batsman or batswoman to be out.


Cooperstown

(baseball, slang) The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, located in the New York town.


game of two halves

en-noun

game of two halves (plural games of two halves)

From football (soccer) commentary in the late 1980s.

In a few minutes they would be reporting their performances for Vijay's spreadsheet, and Doug would be almost certain to say it had been a game of two halves. Well, it had been for him at least. Nick had been losing all night, but looking across the table it seemed that Doug was back where he'd started.

2011, Tom Campbell, Fold, →ISBN, page 105:

The Conservative century was therefore a game of two halves with regard to the procedures for defining parliamentary constituencies.

2011, David Gilbert, David Matless, Brian Short, Geographies of British Modernity: Space and Society in the Twentieth Century, →ISBN:

We also understand why Dracula is a game of two halves: the first half (the attack) takes us from the Natural to the Unnatural path; the second half takes us back.

2001, Fred Botting, The Gothic, →ISBN, page 78:

Something that makes a major turnaround over the course of its lifespan.


Kopite

From kop + -ite. In 1906, the banked stand at one end of the team's ground was formally named after Spion Kop, a hill in KwaZulu-Natal where many Liverpudlians were killed in the Second Boer War.

(informal, soccer) A fan of the English football team Liverpool F.C..

(informal, soccer, derogatory) A fan of Liverpool F.C. who exhibits loutish behaviour, football hooliganism, or poor sportsmanship.


EFC

(soccer) Initialism of Everton Football Club.


Baltimore chop

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Baltimore chop.wav

(baseball) A ball hit forcefully into the ground near home plate, producing a bounce high above the head of a fielder; technique that was intentionally employed during the dead-ball era of Major League Baseball, but today occurs infrequently and usually unintentionally


Banglawash

New Zealand cricket team in Bangladesh in 2010–11

From Bangla + wash. Coined in October 2010 by commentator Athar Ali Khan, who used the term to describe a 4–0 victory against New Zealand.

It gave their fans enormous belief, and it also made them hungry for more. For more Banglawashes.

2015 June 24, Agency, “India vs Bangladesh”, in Sunvilla Samachar, year 1, number 151, Ahmedabad, archived from the original on 2015-12-01, page 3:

Even though the spectators want nothing less than a Banglawash in the ODIs and T20Is, the reality is a bit different. Against a formidable side like South Africa, the chances of that happening is very low.

2015 June 28, Minhaz Uddin Khan, “Over-enthusiasm undermining Tigers' success”, in Dhaka Tribune, volume 3, number 76, page 26:

(cricket, informal) A whitewash by the Bangladesh national cricket team.


Banglawash

en-verb

Banglawash (third-person singular simple present Banglawashes, present participle Banglawashing, simple past and past participle Banglawashed)

Banglawashes (present singular third-person)
Banglawashing (participle present)
Banglawashed (participle past)
Banglawashed (past)

The Tigers have made us proud by defeating the Black Caps in seven ODIs in a row and Banglawashed them once again in the three match ODI series yesterday at Fatullah (Sunday).

2013 November 6, Mazhar Uddin, quoting a fan, “Fans queue overnight for tickets”, in Dhaka Tribune, volume 1, number 223, page 13:

After 'Banglawashing' Pakistan, Bangladesh have now thrashed India to win their three-match One-Day International (ODI) series 2-0 with one match to go.

2015 June 22, Sandipan Banerjee, “Bangladesh should now get the respect which they truly deserve”, in CricketCountry.com, archived from the original on 2017-08-22:

(cricket, informal, of the Bangladesh national cricket team) To whitewash.


dormy

Encyclopaedia of Sport
A player who is dormy cannot be beaten, and at the worst must halve the match.

1937, P. G. Wodehouse, 'Lord Emsworth and Others', Overlook, Woodstock: 2002, p 110.
I could see that Hemingway, confident that he would be dormy one, was a good deal shaken at coming to the eighteenth all square.


inbounder

(in basketball) A player making an inbound pass.


punt-out

(American football) A punt made from the goal line by a player of the side which has made a touchdown to one of his own side for a fair catch, from which an attempt to kick a goal may be made.

(rugby, obsolete) A kick back into play from the touch line, after the ball had gone into touch. It has been replaced by the lineout/line-out

(soccer, obsolete) A method of returning the ball into play, similar to a goal kick


dead-handed

en-adj

dead-handed (comparative more dead-handed, superlative most dead-handed)

more dead-handed (comparative)
most dead-handed (superlative)

Then simply hit a dead-handed chip, with the hands, wrists and arms all swinging together as if in a solid block.

1984, George Peper, Golf's Supershots: How the Pros Played Them - How You Can Play Them, →ISBN:

(golf) Having very little wrist or hand action.


chinlone

From Burmese ခြင်းလုံး (hkrang:lum:), from ခြင်း (hkrang:, “basket”) + အလုံး (a.lum:, “ball”).

A Burmese ball game incorporating aspects of both sport and dance.


whiff-whaff

From Whiff-Waff, coined by Slazenger & Sons in 1900.

Boris Johnson's claim ping-pong was originally a Victorian English invention called whiff-whaff has been attacked by the descendants of the world's oldest sporting and games manufacturer.

[2008 September 2, Chris Irvine, “Boris Johnson in whiff-whaff ping-pong row”, in The Telegraph, retrieved 2020-11-24:

Jesus wept, there I'd been envisaging a weekend spent reading a book with only my top half hanging out of my tent, and the next thing I know I'm signed up for a spot of naked whiff-whaff. Not that Tom seemed too bothered. "I'm not bad at table-tennis," he said as we made our way to our pitch.

2010, Ben Dirs, Tom Fordyce, Karma Chameleons, →ISBN:

"The French looked at a dining table and saw an opportunity to have dinner," he said. "We looked at a dining table and saw an opportunity to play whiff-whaff." In fact table tennis was also called gossima in the early days, and, given that Gossamer is the brand name of a condom, the Mayor of London missed out on an even better joke, perhaps calculating that the Chinese wouldn't get it.

2010 July 17, Howard Jacobson, “Whiff! Whaff! The beautiful game may be coming home”, in The Independent, retrieved 2020-11-24:


level-handed

...however incredulous most of us then were as to the chances of success the Colonials would have, all heartily applauded the pluck of young Australia in coming so far to play the game, level-handed, against the well-seasoned skilled cricketers of old England.

2014, John Stern, Marcus Williams, The Essential Wisden: An Anthology of 150 Years of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, →ISBN:

I have got a single-wicket match on with Jackson " — he was the great bookmaker known as " Jock of Fairfield "— " for ,£5." I said : " You are surely not going to play him level-handed?

1894, Henry Custance, Riding Recollections and Turf Stories, page 119:


moundsman

Managed and shortstopped by George Wright and full of league stalwarts—Joe Start, Paul Hines, and Jim O'rourke—they also had 1-year-old phenom Monte Ward as primary moundsman (teams now generally used multiple pitchers).

2017, Brandon Isleib, Playing for a Winner, page 77:


platoon system

(baseball) A method of sharing playing time, whereby two players are selected to play a single defensive position.


game, set, match

"Game, set and match to Byrd!" announced Westcott above the applause. "Byrd wins the School Championship!"

1915, Ralph Henry Barbour, chapter 13, in Left Tackle Thayer:

(sports, tennis) Victory at the conclusion of a tennis match.


isolation play

Sure, there is room to be critical. He's holding on to the ball too much. He's settling for isolation plays too often.

2015 June 10, David Thorpe, “Top 10 Postseason MVPs: LeBron No. 1”, in ESPN:

(basketball) A goal attempt that does not result from a direct pass.


soccermania

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-soccermania.wav

Apart from soccermania, few issues fire up Italians more than the debate over the quality of their television system, affectionately dubbed "II Far West" due to its chaotic and chameleonic airwaves.

1990, IPI Report, volumes 39-40, page 22:

Their adaptation to austere monastic life includes an unexpected wrinkle — their introduction to World Cup Soccer! Even in this isolated, ethereal locale, soccermania is rampant.

2003, David Bleiler, TLA Film, Video, and DVD Guide 2002-2003: The Discerning Film Lover's Guide, St. Martin's Press, →ISBN:

During the 1920s, soccermania gripped the planet like never before. The end of World War I (1914–1918) and social changes that swept Europe and the Americas meant people had more time for recreation and to go to sporting events.

2010, Mark Stewart, Mike Kennedy, chapter 1, in Goal!: The Fire and Fury of Soccer's Greatest Moment, Millbrook Press, →ISBN, page 11:


high challenge

ANOTHER PENALTY: Frickson Erazo with a high challenge in the area on the onrushing Lizio and Aguilar blows up for a spot kick.

2015, (Please provide the book title or journal name):

In the ninth minute, Mile Jedinak was booked for a high challenge on Christian Cueva, who was looking to break in the middle of the park.

2018 June 26, “Guerrero, Carrillo Score as Peru Spoils Australia Knockout Stage Bid”, in Sports Illustrated:

Chris Duvall was handed a straight red for a high challenge on Andrea Pirlo.

2016 July 5, Ryan Brister, “MLS Week 17 Recap, Highlights: NYCFC take derby, more”, in Empire Of Soccer:

It occurred after Roldan mistakenly booked Cameroon's Sebastien Siani for a high challenge on Germany's Emre Can which had been committed by team-mate Ernest Mabouka.

2018 June 17, “Gareth Southgate's England squad arrive in Volgograd ahead of World Cup opener against Tunisia”, in Daily Mail:

Álvarez is deservedly booked for a high challenge on Neymar.

2018 July 2, “As it happened: Brazil v Mexico, World Cup last 16”, in The 42:

(soccer) A tackle that is high up the targeted player's shin/legs.


Duckworth-Lewis

Duckworth-Lewis method
Duckworth-Lewis method


volume shooter

When the 76ers drafted Iguodala ninth overall in 2004, many wanted him to be a me-first scorer and volume shooter just like the player who previously held the team's spotlight and bared [sic] the same initials: Allen Iverson.

(basketball) A player who takes a lot of shots.


backscreen

(basketball) Alternative form of back screen


outhomer

en-verb

outhomer (third-person singular simple present outhomers, present participle outhomering, simple past and past participle outhomered)

outhomers (present singular third-person)
outhomering (participle present)
outhomered (participle past)
outhomered (past)

Philadelphia has been outscored, 57-18, during the skid and has been outhomered, 19-2.

2015 June 17, The Associated Press, “Kris Bryant Hits Grand Slam as Cubs Romp, 17-0”, in New York Times:

(baseball) To score more home runs than another player.


Muggle quidditch

quidditch

though may also be an alternative spelling of the fictional sport

An intercollegiate sport based on Quidditch, with the rules adapted for playing on the ground.


set out one's stall

set out one's stall (third-person singular simple present sets out one's stall, present participle setting out one's stall, simple past and past participle set out one's stall)

sets out one's stall (present singular third-person)
setting out one's stall (participle present)
set out one's stall (participle past)
set out one's stall (past)

Probably a reference to someone setting out a stall (“bench or table for the sale of merchandise; small open-fronted shop”) and publicly displaying the goods they intend to sell.

(sports, originally cricket) To (decide to) play (especially to defend) in a determined manner.

puolustaa päättäväisesti

to (decide to) play (especially to defend) in a determined manner


Maracanaço

/ˌmæɹəkəˈnɑːsəʊ/

Borrowed from Portuguese Maracanaço, from Maracanã, the stadium that hosted the match.

OK. But will you, Mr Scolari, be able to make the Brazilians forget about O Maracanaço defeat?

2014, Luca Caioli, Neymar: The Making of the World’s Greatest New Number 10, Icon Books, →ISBN, page 198:

(soccer) The final match (Uruguay 2 – Brazil 1) in the 1950 FIFA World Cup.


round the wicket

Benaud, bowling round the wicket and pitching into the rough of Trueman's footholds, brought such a collapse that in 20 minutes to tea England virtually lost the game.

2011, Steven Lynch, Wisden on the Ashes: The Authoritative Story of Cricket's Greatest Rivalry:

around the wicket
around the wicket#English

(cricket) Alternative form of around the wicket


selectorial

No great selectorial issues have been decided.

2015 June 27, Vic Marks, “Australia’s Mitchell Marsh punishes Kent bowlers to disturb the peace”, in The Guardian:

(especially cricket) Relating to selection.


legside

Captain Simon Katich (35 off 26) swiped three legside sixes to keep the scoreboard ticking along until he was dismissed right at the halfway point of the innings to leave NSW at 5-67.

2009 January 17, AAP, “NSW earn top spot and home final after win over Victoria”, in Herald Sun:


Serena Slam

From Serena (“Serena Williams”) + slam (“grand slam”).
From Serena Williams who achieved the feat (though she was not the first) and was greatly celebrated for it.

compound

(tennis) A type of grand slam in tennis, where a player is reigning champion of all the major tournaments at the same time, but not all the tournaments have occurred in the same tennis season/calendar year.

Tiger Slam

the same feat in golf, named after Tiger Woods

grand slam

a conventional grand slam requires the player to be reigning champion of all major tournaments in the same calendar year/sports season

grand slam

all of the major tournaments collectively

career grand slam

a player having won all major tournaments at least once in their playing career


Atleti

(informal, soccer) Atlético Madrid, a soccer team from Madrid