bone

en-noun

bone (countable and uncountable, plural bones)

bones (plural)
bane (alternative)
byen (alternative)

From Middle English bon, from Old English bān (“bone, tusk; the bone of a limb”), from Proto-Germanic *bainą (“bone”), from *bainaz (“straight”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyh₂- (“to hit, strike, beat”).
Cognate with Scots bane, been, bean, bein, bain (“bone”), North Frisian bien (“bone”), West Frisian bien (“bone”), Dutch been (“bone; leg”), German Low German Been, Bein (“bone”), German Bein (“leg”), German Gebein (“bones”), Swedish ben (“bone; leg”), Norwegian and Icelandic bein (“bone”), Breton benañ (“to cut, hew”), Latin perfinēs (“break through, break into pieces, shatter”), Avestan 𐬠𐬫𐬈𐬥𐬙𐬈 (byente, “they fight, hit”). Related also to Old Norse beinn (“straight, right, favourable, advantageous, convenient, friendly, fair, keen”) (whence Middle English bain, bayne, bayn, beyn (“direct, prompt”), Scots bein, bien (“in good condition, pleasant, well-to-do, cosy, well-stocked, pleasant, keen”)), Icelandic beinn (“straight, direct, hospitable”), Norwegian bein (“straight, direct, easy to deal with”). See bain, bein.

cog

sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me

what's bred in the bone will come out in the flesh

(American football, informal) The wishbone formation.


quarter

en-noun

quarter (countable and uncountable, plural quarters)

From Middle English quarter, from Anglo-Norman quarter, from Latin quartarius, from quartus. Compare Spanish cuarto (“room, quarters; quarter”). Doublet of quartier.

cog

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-quarter.wav

çerek

one of four equal parts — see also one-fourth

(now rare, rugby, American football) A quarterback.


six

From Middle English six, from Old English six, from Proto-West Germanic *sehs, from Proto-Germanic *sehs, from Proto-Indo-European *swéḱs. Compare West Frisian seis, Dutch zes, Low German söss, sess, German sechs, Norwegian and Danish seks, also Latin sex, Ancient Greek ἕξ (héx), Sanskrit षष् (ṣaṣ). Doublet of sice. Toilet sense predates military usage.

Table of cardinal numbers 0 to 9 in various languages


scrimmage

/ˈskɹɪmɪd͡ʒ/

/ˈskɹɪməd͡ʒ/

(athletics, American football) In American football or Canadian football, a play that begins with a snap from the center while opposing teams are on either side of a line of scrimmage.


defer

en-verb

defer (third-person singular simple present defers, present participle deferring, simple past and past participle deferred)

defers (present singular third-person)
deferring (participle present)
deferred (participle past)
deferred (past)

Originally a variant of (and hence a doublet of) differ; from Middle English differren (“to postpone”), from Old French differer, from Latin differō. Doublet of differ. See also infer, collate and confer, delate and defer (Etymology 2)
relate and refer as well as prelate and prefer among others.

տարկետել

(transitive) to delay — see also delay, postpone, put off

(American football) After winning the opening coin toss, to postpone until the start of the second half a team's choice of whether to kick off or receive (and to allow the opposing team to make this choice at the start of the first half).


bomb

From French bombe, from Italian bomba, from Latin bombus (“a booming sound”), from Ancient Greek βόμβος (bómbos, “booming, humming, buzzing”), imitative of the sound itself. Doublet of bombe. Compare boom.

onomatopoeic

imitative

(social) Something highly effective or attractive.

(American football, slang) A long forward pass.


tempo

Borrowed from Italian tempo, from Latin tempus (“time”). Doublet of tense.
(truck or cargo van): A genericized trademark, originally associated with the manufacturer Vidal & Sohn Tempo-Werke GmbH.

(American football) A rapid rate of play by the offense resulting from reducing the amount of time which elapses after one play ends and the next starts.


nickel

en-noun

nickel (countable and uncountable, plural nickels)

Borrowed from German Nickel, first used in a text by the Swedish mineralogist Axel F. Cronstedt as an abbreviation of Kupfernickel (“a mineral containing copper and nickel”), from Kupfer (“copper”) + Nickel (“insignificant person, goblin”), originally nickname of Nikolaus (“Nicholas”), due to the deceptive silver colour of the relatively valueless ore. Compare cobalt as related to kobolds.

that and a nickel will buy you a cup of coffee

that and a nickel will get you on the subway

you pays your nickel and you takes your chances

you pays your nickel and you takes your choice

(American football) A defensive formation with five defensive backs, one of whom is a nickelback, instead of the more-common four.


pit

From Middle English pit, pet, püt, from Old English pytt, from Proto-West Germanic *puti, from Latin puteus (“trench, pit, well”), although there are phonetic difficulties.

he who digs a pit for others falls in himself

The ball carrier can be with or without a football. For the “Head-On” tackle have the “Ball Carrier” stand right in front of the pit and face the tackler.

2007, Bob Swope, Youth Football Drills and Plays Handbook, page 29:

“They don't call the middle of the line The Pit for nothing. We really do get like animals, trying to claw one another apart in there. It is very hard in The Pit. No matter how it seems, no matter what the score shows, it's always hard. […]

2018, Paul Zimmerman, The New Thinking Man's Guide to Professional Football:

(American football) The center of the line.


laundry

laundry (countable and uncountable, plural laundries)

dialectal, obsolete, distinct from the cot–caught merger

From Middle English lavendrie, from Old French lavanderie, from Latin lavandaria. See launder.

(slang, American football) A penalty flag.


hut

A short, sharp sound of command. Compare hey, hup, etc.

(American football) Called by the quarterback to prepare the team for a play.


PA

PA (countable and uncountable, plural PAs)

Coordinate term: PF

The Giants and Commanders have the same record after 13 games each. However, Washington has control of third place in the NFC East due to a better PF/PA record in comparison to the Giants.

2022 December 14, “NFL Playoff picture Week 15: Are the New York Giants still in contention for the postseason?”, in Sportskeeda, archived from the original on 2022-12-17:

(American football, fantasy football) Initialism of points against.


heel

en-verb

heel (third-person singular simple present heels, present participle heeling, simple past and past participle heeled)

heels (present singular third-person)
heeling (participle present)
heeled (participle past)
heeled (past)

From Middle English hele, from Old English hēla, from Proto-West Germanic *hą̄hilō, from Proto-Germanic *hanhilaz, diminutive of Proto-Germanic *hanhaz (“heel, hock”), equivalent to hock + -le. More at hock.
Compare North Frisian haiel, West Frisian hyl, Dutch hiel, German Low German Hiel, Danish and Norwegian hæl, Swedish häl.

(American football, transitive) To make (a fair catch) standing with one foot forward, the heel on the ground and the toe up.


down

down (third-person singular simple present downs, present participle downing, simple past and past participle downed)

downs (present singular third-person)
downing (participle present)
downed (participle past)
downed (past)

From Middle English doun, doune, from Old English dūne (“down”), aphetic form of adūne (“down, downward”), from earlier ofdūne (“down”, literally “off the hill”), from of (“of, off of”) + dūn (“hill, mount, dune, down”). More at Etymology 2 below. For the development from directional phrases to prepositions, compare Middle Low German dāle (“down, downwards”, literally “(in/to the) dale/valley”), whence German Low German dal (“down”). Compare also Saterland Frisian deel (“down”, literally “to/into the dale”).

ncog

He downed it at the seven-yard line.

(transitive, American football, Canadian football) To render (the ball) dead, typically by touching the ground while in possession.


down

I bet after the third down, the kicker will replace the quarterback on the field.

(American football) A single play, from the time the ball is snapped (the start) to the time the whistle is blown (the end) when the ball is down, or is downed.


drive

en-verb

drive (third-person singular simple present drives, present participle driving, simple past drove or (archaic) drave or (dialectal) driv, past participle driven or (dialectal) druv or (dialectal) drove)

drives (present singular third-person)
driving (participle present)
drove (past)
drave (archaic past)
driv (dialectal past)
driven (participle past)
druv (dialectal participle past)
drove (dialectal participle past)
Dr. (alternative)

→ Scottish Gaelic: draibh

[d̠ɹ̠ ̝ʷaɪv]

From Middle English driven, from Old English drīfan (“to drive, force, move”), from Proto-West Germanic *drīban, from Proto-Germanic *drībaną (“to drive”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreybʰ- (“to drive, push”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots drive (“to drive”), North Frisian driwe (“to drive”), Saterland Frisian drieuwe (“to drive”), West Frisian driuwe (“to chase, drive, impel”), Dutch drijven (“to drive”), Low German drieven (“to drive, drift, push”), German treiben (“to drive, push, propel”), Norwegian Bokmål drive, Danish drive (“to drive, run, force”), Norwegian Nynorsk driva, Swedish driva (“to drive, power, drift, push, force”), Icelandic drífa (“to drive, hurry, rush”).

سَاقَ

to move (something) by hitting it with great force

don't drive faster than your guardian angel can fly

(American football) To put together a drive (n.): to string together offensive plays and advance the ball down the field.


drive

en-noun

drive (countable and uncountable, plural drives)

[d̠ɹ̠ ̝ʷaɪv]

(American football) An offensive possession, generally one consisting of several plays and/ or first downs, often leading to a scoring opportunity.


fly

From Middle English flye (“flying, flight”), from Old English flyge (“flying, flight”), from Proto-Germanic *flugiz.

дюкян

strip that hides the opening of trousers/pants or underpants

(American football) Short for fly route.


run

en-verb

run (third-person singular simple present runs, present participle running, simple past ran, past participle run or (nonstandard, colloquial) ran)

runs (present singular third-person)
running (participle present)
ran (past)
run (participle past)
ran (colloquial nonstandard participle past)
run (infinitive)
rin (alternative)
ren (alternative)

From Middle English runnen, rennen (“to run”), alteration (due to the past participle runne, runnen,
yronne) of Middle English rinnen (“to run”), from Old English rinnan, iernan (“to run”) and Old Norse rinna (“to run”), both from Proto-Germanic *rinnaną (“to run”) (compare also *rannijaną (“to make run”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reyH- (“to boil, churn”).
Cognate with Scots rin (“to run”), West Frisian rinne (“to walk, march”), Dutch rennen (“to run, race”), Alemannic German ränne (“to run”), German rennen (“to run, race”), rinnen (“to flow”), Rhein, Danish rende (“to run”), Swedish ränna (“to run”), Swedish rinna (“to flow”), Icelandic renna (“to flow”). Non-Germanic cognates include Albanian rend (“to run, run after”). See random.

der

a lie can run around the world before the truth can get its boots on

hold with the hare and run with the hounds

run around like a chicken with its head cut off

the course of true love never did run smooth

you can't run with the hare and hunt with the hounds

you don't miss the water till the well runs dry

you never miss the water till the well runs dry

you never miss the water until the well runs dry

Then, on their second possession, Isaiah Ford ran for 11 yards after abandoning a flea flicker. [...] The Patriots ran the ball just 27 times despite averaging 5 yards per carry.

2019 December 29, Chad Finn, “24 thoughts on the Patriots’ loss to the Dolphins”, in Boston Globe:

(American football, transitive or intransitive) To carry (a football) down the field, as opposed to passing or kicking.

kuljettaa

soccer: to carry a football down the field


run

runs (plural)
rin (alternative)
ren (alternative)

rise

antonym(s) of “horizontal part of a step”

rise

antonym(s) of “horizontal distance of a set of stairs”

… one of the greatest runs of all time.

Aaron Roberts added an insurance touchdown on a one-yard run.

2003, Jack Seibold, Spartan Sports Encyclopedia, page 592:

In sports
(American football) A running play.


throw

en-verb

throw (third-person singular simple present throws, present participle throwing, simple past threw or (nonstandard) throwed, past participle thrown or (nonstandard) throwed or (nonstandard) threw)

throws (present singular third-person)
throwing (participle present)
threw (past)
throwed (nonstandard past)
thrown (participle past)
throwed (nonstandard participle past)
threw (nonstandard participle past)
throw (infinitive)

From Middle English throwen, thrawen, from Old English þrāwan (“to turn, twist”), from Proto-West Germanic *þrāan, from Proto-Germanic *þrēaną (“to twist, turn”), from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to rub, rub by twisting, twist, turn”).
Cognate with Scots thraw (“to twist, turn, throw”), West Frisian triuwe (“to push”), Dutch draaien (“to turn”), Low German draien, dreien (“to turn (in a lathe)”), German drehen (“to turn”).
Displaced warp as the word for hurling and was displaced by warp as the word for twisting.

hedh

to cause an object to move rapidly through the air

heitellä

repeatedly, continuously and/or indifferently

dip me in chocolate and throw me to the lesbians

people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones

throw enough mud at the wall and some of it will stick

throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick

throw nickels around like manhole covers

throw oneself on someone's mercy not have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of

throw one's hotdog down someone's hallway

throw things at the wall and see what sticks

trust someone as far as one could throw them


decline

en-verb

decline (third-person singular simple present declines, present participle declining, simple past and past participle declined)

declines (present singular third-person)
declining (participle present)
declined (participle past)
declined (past)
decline (infinitive)

From Middle English declinen, and ultimately Latin declīnō (“to bend, turn aside, deflect, inflect, decline”, from de (“down”) + clīnō (“I bend, I incline”)), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱley- (English lean). The senses arrived from two separate pathways in Middle English:
* The grammatical sense came from Old English declīnian, which was borrowed directly from the Latin etymon.
* All senses except the grammatical sense were derived from those of Old French decliner. Old French itself borrowed the verb from Latin.

der

The team chose to decline the fifteen-yard penalty because their receiver had caught the ball for a thirty-yard gain.

(American football, Canadian football) To reject a penalty against the opposing team, usually because the result of accepting it would benefit the non-penalized team less than the preceding play.

refuser

American football or Canadian football: reject a penalty against an opposing team


deep

en-adj

deep (comparative deeper or more deep, superlative deepest or most deep)

deeper (comparative)
more deep (comparative)
deepest (superlative)
most deep (superlative)
deepe (alternative)

shallow

antonym(s) of “in extent in a direction away from the observer”

shallow

antonym(s) of “thick in a vertical direction”

light

antonym(s) of “of a color, dark and highly saturated”

From Middle English depe, deep, dep, deop, from Old English dēop (“deep, profound; awful, mysterious; heinous; serious, solemn, earnest; extreme, great”), from Proto-West Germanic *deup, from Proto-Germanic *deupaz (“deep”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ-nós, from *dʰewbʰ- (“deep”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots depe (“deep”), Saterland Frisian djoop (“deep”), West Frisian djip (“deep”), Low German deep (“deep”), Dutch diep (“deep”), German tief (“deep”), Danish dyb (“deep”), Norwegian Bokmål dyp (“deep”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish djup (“deep”), Icelandic djúpur (“deep”), Lithuanian dubùs (“deep, hollow”), Albanian det (“sea”), Welsh dwfn (“deep”).

inh

Our defensive live is too deep. We need to move further up the field.

She returns serve from a very deep position.

(of distance or position; also figurative) Extending, reaching or positioned far from a point of reference, especially downwards.

(sports such as soccer, American football, tennis) Positioned back, or downfield, towards one's own goal, or towards or behind one's baseline or similar reference point.


end

beginning

antonym(s) of “final point of something”

→ Japanese: エンド

From Middle English ende, from Old English ende, from Proto-West Germanic *andī, from Proto-Germanic *andijaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂entíos, from *h₂ent- (“front, forehead”).
See also Dutch einde, German Ende, Norwegian ende, Swedish ände; also Old Irish ét (“end, point”), Latin antiae (“forelock”), Albanian anë (“side”), Ancient Greek ἀντίος (antíos, “opposite”), Sanskrit अन्त्य (antya, “last”). More at and and anti-.
The verb is from Middle English enden, endien, from Old English endian (“to end, to make an end of, complete, finish, abolish, destroy, come to an end, die”), from Proto-Germanic *andijōną (“to finish, end”), denominative from *andijaz.

der

snitches get stitches and end up in ditches

Her husband, among various physical accomplishments, had been one of the most powerful ends that ever played football at New Haven […].

1925, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, published 1953, →ISBN, →OCLC:

(American football) The position at the end of either the offensive or defensive line, a tight end, a split end, a defensive end.


wildcat

wildcats (plural)
wild-cat (alternative)
wild cat (alternative)

From Middle English wyld cat, wylde cat (in the plural as wild cattes, wylde catis, wyle cattes), equivalent to wild + cat. Cognate with Middle Low German wiltkatte, German Wildkatze, Swedish vildkatt.
Its adjectival senses were originally American and derived from the "wildcat banks" of Michigan, following its elevation to statehood in 1837. Two laws—one easing the requirements for establishing a new bank and another occasioned by the Panic of 1837 that removed the need for payment in specie—led to the creation and collapse of around 50 banks within two years. The term is apocryphally derived from a wildcat supposedly featured on the currency printed by one of these banks, but more probably derived from the remote locations "where the wildcats roamed" chosen by these banks to avoid oversight and minimize redemption of notes.

John Audubon
bobcat
wildcat
wildcat (disambiguation)
wildcat cartridge

(American football) An offensive formation with an unbalanced line and a snap directly to the running back rather than the quarterback.


house

en-noun

house (countable and uncountable, plural houses or (dialectal) housen or (chiefly humorous) hice)

houses (plural)
housen (dialectal plural)
hice (humorous plural)
howse (alternative)

Chinese Pidgin English: houso

Nigerian Pidgin: haus

Tok Pisin: haus

Sranan Tongo: oso
→ Dutch: osso

→ Cantonese: house (hau¹ si²)

→ Japanese: ハウス (hausu)

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewH-der.?
Proto-Germanic *hūsą
Proto-West Germanic *hūs
Old English hūs
Middle English hous
English house
From Middle English hous, hus, from Old English hūs (“dwelling, shelter, house”), from Proto-West Germanic *hūs, from Proto-Germanic *hūsą (compare Scots hoose, West Frisian hûs, Dutch huis, German Haus, German Low German Huus, Danish hus, Faroese hús, Icelandic hús, Norwegian Bokmål hus, Norwegian Nynorsk hus and Swedish hus), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kews-, from *(s)kewH- (“to cover, hide”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English meson, measoun (“house”), borrowed from Old French maison (“house”). More at hose. The uncommon plural form housen is from Middle English husen, housen. (The Old English nominative plural was simply hūs.)

huis

debating chamber for government politicians

a house divided against itself cannot stand

it takes a heap of living to make a house a home

it takes a heap o' livin' to make a house a home

it takes a lot of living to make a house a home

the call is coming from inside the house

use the master's tools to dismantle the master's house

(American football, slang, with “the”) The end zone.


dagger

From Middle English daggere, daggare, dagard, probably adapted from Old French dague (1229), related to Occitan, Italian, Spanish daga, Dutch dagge, German Degen, Middle Low German dagge (“knife's point”), Old Norse daggarðr, Danish daggert, Faroese daggari, Welsh dager, dagr, Breton dac, Albanian thikë (“a knife, dagger”), thek (“to stab, to pierce with a sharp object”).
In English attested from the 1380s.
The ultimate origin of the word is unclear. Grimm suspects Celtic origin.
Others have suggested derivation from an unattested Vulgar Latin *daca "Dacian [knife]", from the Latin adjective dācus. Chastelain (Dictionaire etymologique, 1750) thought that French dague was a derivation from German dagge, dagen, although not attested until a much later date).
The knightly dagger evolves from the 12th century. Guillaume le Breton (died 1226) uses daca in his Philippide. Other Middle Latin forms include daga, dagga, dagha, dagger, daggerius, daggerium, dagarium, dagarius, diga; the forms with -r- are late 14th century adoptions of the English word).
OED points out that there is also an English verb dag (“to stab”) from which this could be a derivation, but the verb is attested only from about 1400.
Relation to Old Armenian դակու (daku, “adze, axe”) has also been suggested. Alternatively, a connection from Proto-Indo-European *dʰāg-u- and cognate with Ancient Greek θήγω (thḗgō, “to sharpen, whet”).

cog

His last-minute 3-point dagger silenced the criticism for his so-called failure to come up big in big moments.

(basketball, American football) A point scored near the end of the game (clutch time) to take or increase the scorer's team lead, so that they are likely to win.


pass

en-verb

pass (third-person singular simple present passes, present participle passing, simple past and past participle passed)

passes (present singular third-person)
passing (participle present)
passed (participle past)
passed (past)
passe (alternative)

From Middle English passen, from Old French passer (“to step, walk, pass”), from Vulgar Latin *passāre (“step, walk, pass”), derived from Latin passus (“a step”), from pandere (“spread, unfold, stretch”), from Proto-Italic *patnō, from Proto-Indo-European *pth₂noh₂, from Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- (“to spread, stretch out”). Cognate with Old English fæþm (“armful, fathom”). More at fathom.
Displaced native Old English gengan.

اِجْتَازَ

to go through any inspection or test successfully

hyväksyttää

to cause to advance by stages of process

The Patriots passed on third and long.

(sports) To make various kinds of movement.

(intransitive, American football) To throw the ball, generally downfield, towards a teammate.


NFL

National Football League
w:National Football League

(American football) Initialism of National Football League.


safety

en-noun

safety (countable and uncountable, plural safeties)

Inherited from Middle English savete, from Old French sauveté, from earlier salvetet, from Medieval Latin salvitās, salvitātem, from Latin salvus.

He sacked the quarterback in the end zone for a safety.

(American football) An instance of a player being sacked or tackled in the end zone, or stepping out of the end zone and off the field, resulting in two points to the opposite team.

safety

American football: instance of a player being sacked or tackled in the end zone

The free safety made a game-saving tackle on the runner who had broken past the linebackers.

(American football) Any of the defensive players who are in position furthest from the line of scrimmage and whose responsibility is to defend against passes as well as to be the tacklers of last resort.


center

From Middle English center, centre, from Middle French centre, from Latin centrum, from Ancient Greek κέντρον (kéntron), from κεντεῖν (kenteîn, “to prick, goad”). Doublet of centrum.
* (group theory): In the notation Z(G), the letter Z derives from the German Zentrum (“center”).

sentrum

point equidistant from all points on the perimeter of a circle

مَرْكَز

point in the interior of figure with mean coordinates

(sports) A player in the middle of a playing area.

(American football, Canadian football) The person who holds the ball at the beginning of each play.


reception

reception (countable and uncountable, plural receptions)

/ɹɪˈsɛp.ʃn̩/

Borrowed from Middle French reception, from Latin recipiō(n) (“the act of receiving; reception”), from recipiō (“receive”), from re- (“back”) + capiō (“I hold”).

der

Henderson can play multiple techniques, man and off, and over the last two seasons, he yielded just 20 receptions, on 44 targets, in single coverage on the boundary, according to Pro Football Focus, making him a prime candidate to start there as a rookie.

2020 April 24, Ken Belson, Ben Shpigel, “Full Round 1 2020 N.F.L. Picks and Analysis”, in New York Time:

(American football) The act of catching a pass.


passer

(sports) Someone who passes, someone who makes a pass.

(American football) A football player who makes a forward pass, who may be (but not limited to) the quarterback.


guard

guards (plural)
gard (alternative)
garde (alternative)
guarde (alternative)

From Middle English garde, from early Middle French or late Old French guarde (“a guardian, warden, keeper”) (whence modern French garde), from the verb guarder. Doublet of garda, which is from Irish.

(American football) Either of two offensive positions between the centre and each of the offensive tackles, whose main responsibilities are to protect the quarterback, and open up "holes" through which offensive players can run.


iso

en-noun

iso (countable and uncountable, plural isos)

“I can remember lining up against them and saying, ‘This is the 15th iso that you’re going to get.’ ”

2007 January 5, Pete Thamel, quoting Greg Mattison, “Scoreboard Shows This Isn't the Same Old Ohio State”, in New York Times:

(American football, basketball) An isolation play in basketball or American football.


hurry

hurry (countable and uncountable, plural hurries)

From Middle English horien (“to rush, impel”), probably a variation of hurren (“to vibrate rapidly, buzz”), from Proto-Germanic *hurzaną (“to rush”) (compare Middle High German hurren (“to hasten”), Norwegian hurre (“to whirl around”)), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- (“to run”) (compare Latin currō (“I run”), Tocharian A kursär/Tocharian B kwarsär (“league; course”)). Related to hurr, horse, rush.
Alternative etymology derives hurry as a variant of harry.

inh

At Alabama, Jedrick Wills Jr. anchored the right side of the offensive line for two years, allowing only one sack and three-and-a-half quarterback hurries on 714 snaps last season.

(American football) an incidence of a defensive player forcing the quarterback to act faster than the quarterback was prepared to, resulting in a failed offensive play.

press

American football: incidence of a defensive player forcing the quarterback to act faster than the quarterback was prepared to


drop

From Late Middle English droppe, Middle English drope (“small quantity of liquid; small or least amount of something; pendant jewel; dripping of a liquid; a shower; nasal flow, catarrh; speck, spot; blemish; disease causing spots on the skin”) [and other forms], from Old English dropa (“a drop”), from Proto-West Germanic *dropō (“drop (of liquid)”), from Proto-Germanic *drupô (“drop (of liquid)”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrewb- (“to crumble, grind”).

nb...

dropan, droupe, (Northern England) droipe

afval

small quantity of liquid, just large enough to hold its own round shape through surface tension

piisk

very small quantity of liquid, or of anything

piisk

that which hangs or resembles a liquid globule

pudotettu esine

(online gaming, video games) item dropped by a defeated enemy

langemine

decline in degree, quality, quantity, or rate

afgrond

distance through which something drops, or falls below a certain level

Yet another drop for the Tiger tight end.

A thing which drops or hangs down.
(American football) A dropped pass.

A thing which drops or hangs down.
A dropped pass.

The Tiger quarterback took a one-step drop, expecting his tight end to be open.

An act or instance of dropping (in all senses).

(American football) Short for drop-back.


AFC

American Football Conference
w:American Football Conference

(American football) Initialism of American Football Conference.


combine

PIE word
 *dwóh₁
From Middle French combiner, from Late Latin combīnāre (“unite, yoke together”), from Latin con- (“together”) + bīnī (“two by two”).

If you purchased this book chances are that you are planning on participating in a football combine or pro-day test.

2008, Scott Shetler, Optimal Performance Techniques for the Football Combine, page 5:

In 2008, a study was published that examined the ability of the NFL combine to predict football playing performance in the NFL (Kuzmits and Adams, 2008).

2020, Jay R. Hoffman, The Science of American Football:

At the combine, Reagor compared himself to the 49ers’ Deebo Samuel or Chiefs’ Tyreek Hill — whom he said he watched “every day”

(American football) A test match in which applicants play in the hope of earning a position on a professional football team.


shotgun

en-noun

shotgun (countable and uncountable, plural shotguns)

shotguns (plural)
shot-gun (alternative)

desc

Japanese: → 散弾銃 (sandanjū) (calque), → ショットガン (shottogan)

→ Tok Pisin: sot gan

From shot + gun. Front passenger seat sense comes from ride shotgun.

(American football) An offensive formation in which the quarterback receives the snap at a distance behind the center, often with a running back set to one or both sides of him.


try

From Middle English trien (“to try a legal case”), from Anglo-Norman trier (“to try a case”), Old French trier (“to choose, pick out or separate from others, sift, cull”), of uncertain origin, but likely from Late Latin trītāre (“to grind”), from Classical Latin trītus, the past participle of terō, terere, with the semantic shift seemingly originating from the Latin set phrase granum terere (“to beat the corn from the chaff”), which can also be found in modern French as trier le grain.
Replaced native Middle English cunnen (“to try”) (from Old English cunnian), Middle English fandien (“to try, prove”) (from Old English fandian), and Middle English costnien (“to try, tempt, test”) (from Old English costnian).

cog

[t̠͡ɹ̠̊˔aɪ̯]

[t̠͡ɹ̠̊˔ʷaɪ̯]

(American football) A field goal or extra point


bowl

Bislama: bol

→ Esperanto: bovlo

desctree

→ French: bol
→ Catalan: bol
→ Greek: μπολ (bol)

→ German: Bowle, → Bowl

→ Hungarian: bólé

→ Ido: bolo

→ Irish: bolla

→ Japanese: ボール (bōru)

→ Latvian: bole (probably via German)

→ Korean: 볼 (bol)

→ Scottish Gaelic: bòl

→ Swedish: bål

From Middle English bolle, from Old English bolla, bolle (“bowl, cup, pot, beaker, measure”), from Proto-West Germanic *bollā, from Proto-Germanic *bullǭ (“ball, round vessel, bowl”).
Cognate with North Frisian bol (“bun, bread roll”), Middle Low German bolle, bole (“round object”), Dutch bol (“ball, sphere, scoop, dot”), German Bolle (“bulb”), Danish bolle (“bowl, bread roll”), Icelandic bolli (“cup”). Doublet of boule and pulla.

inh

(American football) A postseason football competition, a bowl game (i.e. Rose Bowl, Super Bowl)


dime

From Middle English dime, from Anglo-Norman disme (“one tenth, tithe”) (modern French dîme), from Medieval Latin decima, from Latin decima (pars) (“tenth (part)”). :Template:abt.

(American football) A defensive formation with six defensive backs, one of whom is a dimeback.


keeper

From Middle English kepere, equivalent to keep + -er.

(American football) An offensive play in which the quarterback runs toward the goal with the ball after it is snapped.


pick

From Middle English piken, picken, pikken, from Old English *piccian, *pīcian (attested in pīcung (“a pricking”)), and pīcan, pȳcan (“to pick, prick, pluck”), both from Proto-West Germanic *pikkōn, from Proto-Germanic *pikkōną (“to pick, peck, prick, knock”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew-, *bu- (“to make a dull, hollow sound”). Doublet of pitch and peck.
Cognate with Dutch pikken (“to pick”), German picken (“to pick, peck”), Old Norse pikka, pjakka (whence Icelandic pikka (“to pick, prick”), Swedish picka (“to pick, peck”)).


pick

en-verb

pick (third-person singular simple present picks, present participle picking, simple past and past participle picked)

picks (present singular third-person)
picking (participle present)
picked (participle past)
picked (past)

dərmək

to remove a fruit or plant for consumption

The pass was almost picked, but the tight end was able to hold on.

(American football, informal) To intercept a pass from the offense as a defensive player.


sack

→ Japanese: サック (sakku)

From Middle English sak, sek, sach, zech (“bag, sackcloth”), from Old English sacc (“sack, bag”) and sæċċ (“sackcloth, sacking”); both from Proto-West Germanic *sakku, from late Proto-Germanic *sakkuz (“sack”), borrowed from Latin saccus (“large bag”), from Ancient Greek σάκκος (sákkos, “bag of coarse cloth”), from Semitic, possibly Phoenician or Hebrew.
Cognate with Dutch zak, German Sack, Swedish säck, Danish sæk, Hebrew שַׂק (śaq, “sack, sackcloth”), Aramaic סַקָּא, Classical Syriac ܣܩܐ, Ge'ez ሠቅ (śäḳ), Akkadian 𒆭𒊓 (saqqu), Egyptian sꜣgꜣ. Doublet of sac, saccus, saco, and sakkos.
Černý and Forbes suggest the word was originally Egyptian, a nominal derivative of sꜣq (“to gather or put together”) that also yielded Coptic ⲥⲟⲕ (sok, “sackcloth”) and was borrowed into Greek perhaps by way of a Semitic intermediary. However, Vycichl and Hoch reject this idea, noting that such an originally Egyptian word would be expected to yield Hebrew *סַק rather than שַׂק. Instead, they posit that the Coptic and Greek words are both borrowed from Semitic, with the Coptic word perhaps developing via Egyptian sꜣgꜣ.
Sense evolution
* “Pillage” senses from the use of sacks in carrying off plunder. From Middle French sac, shortened from the phrase mettre à sac (“put it in a bag”), a military command to pillage; also parallel meaning with Italian sacco (“plunder”), from Medieval Latin saccō (“pillage”). From Vulgar Latin saccare (“to plunder”), from saccus (“sack”). See also ransack. American football “tackle” sense from this “plunder, conquer” root.
* “Removal from employment” senses attested since 1825; the original formula was “to give (someone) the sack”, likely from the notion of a worker going off with his tools in a sack, or being given such a sack for his personal belongings as part of an expedient severance. Idiom exists earlier in French (on luy a donné son sac, 17c.) and Middle Dutch (iemand den zak geven). English verb in this sense recorded from 1841. Current verb, to sack (“to fire”) carries influence from the forceful nature of “plunder, tackle” verb senses.
* Slang meaning “bunk, bed” is attested since 1825, originally nautical, likely in reference to sleeping bags. The verb meaning “go to bed” is recorded from 1946.
* Slang meaning "scrotum" is an ellipsis of ballsack.

doublet

(American football) A successful tackle of the quarterback behind the line of scrimmage.


sack

en-verb

sack (third-person singular simple present sacks, present participle sacking, simple past and past participle sacked)

sacks (present singular third-person)
sacking (participle present)
sacked (participle past)
sacked (past)

уволнявам

informal: to remove from a job or position — see also fire

炒魷魚 /炒鱿鱼 (chǎo yóuyú, literally “to fry squid.”)

On third down, the rejuvenated Rickey Jackson stormed in over All-Pro left tackle Richmond Webb to sack Marino yet again for a 2-yard loss.

1995, John Crumpacker and Gwen Knapp, "Sack-happy defensive line stuns Dolphins", SFGate.com, November 21

(American football) To tackle the quarterback behind the line of scrimmage, especially before he is able to throw a pass.


wishbone

(American football) A particular kind of offensive formation. See wishbone formation.


pocket

→ Japanese: ポケット

→ Welsh: poced

From Middle English pocket (“bag, sack”), from Anglo-Norman poket, Old Northern French poquet, poquete, diminutive of poque, poke (“bag, sack”) (compare modern Norman pouquette and modern French pochette from Old French pochete, from puche), from Frankish *pokā (“pouch”), from Proto-Germanic *pukkô, *pukô (“bag; pouch”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew- (“to blow, swell”). Doublet of pochette. Cognate with Middle Dutch poke, Alemannic German Pfoch (“purse, bag”), Old English pocca, pohha (“poke, pouch, pocket, bag”), Old Norse poki (“bag, pocket”). Compare the related poke (“sack or bag”). See also Modern French pochette and Latin bucca. Equivalent to pouch + -et.

der

is that a gun in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me

For many years, the popular belief among NFL analysts was that the success of an NFL team comes with a quarterback who can stand tall in the pocket and deliver the ball downfield. Members of the elite group of active quarterbacks, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Drew Brees, for instance, also earned their reputation by making plays almost exclusively from the pocket.

2014 June 20, Gregor Bozic, "Ramblings: Classic Pocket Passers versus Mobile Quarterbacks", Football Outsiders

With some notable exceptions, NFL teams that are successful on dropbacks outside the pocket have tended to win more games

2019 Dec. 6, Josh Hermsmeyer, "Teams Are Excelling when Their QBs Leave the Pocket. Can that Continue?", FiveThirtyEight

The Pocket Area is the area between the outside edges of the normal tackle positions on each side of the center extending backward to the offensive team's end line. After the ball leaves the pocket area, this area no longer exists.

2021, Official Playing Rules of the National Football League, §26: Pocket Area

intentional grounding
intentional grounding

(American football) The area behind the line of scrimmage subject to certain rules regarding intentional grounding, illegal contact, etc., formally extending to the end zone but more usually understood as the central area around the quarterback directly protected by the offensive line.


touchdown

en-noun

touchdown (countable and uncountable, plural touchdowns)

touchdowns (plural)
touch down (alternative)
touch-down (alternative)

Today I scored my first touchdown.

“I must have caught 45 or 50 touchdowns in that right corner,” he told The Baltimore Sun in 2009. “It was sloped some, a little downhill, which helped me speedwise. I wasn’t all that fast.”

2020 October 29, Richard Goldstein, “Jimmy Orr, a Favorite Target of the Colts’ Unitas, Dies at 85”, in The New York Times:

(American football, Canadian football) A six-point score occurring when the ball enters possession of a team's player in the opponent's end zone.


slot

From Middle English slot, from Old French esclot, likely from Old Norse slóð (“track”). As a gambling machine, via clipping of slot machine. Compare sleuth. The scheduling (calendar) sense is by a metaphor whereby the time span is equated with the segment of a page or part of a device that represents it.

(American football) The area between the last offensive lineman on either side of the center and the wide receiver on that side.


scatback

(American football) A small lightweight running back valued for speed rather than power.


AQ

automatic qualifier
automatic qualifier#English

(American football) Initialism of automatic qualifier. Refers to the NCAA Division I FBS conferences whose champions receive automatic bids to the Bowl Championship Series.


pylon

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek πυλών (pulṓn, “gateway”).

стълб

a towerlike structure used to support high-voltage electricity cables

(American football) An orange marker designating one of the four corners of the end zone in American football.


sacker

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

The loss of last year’s leading sacker, Kerry Hyder Jr., for the season with an Achilles injury is still problematic.

2017 August 26, Bob Wojnowski, “Wojo: Patriots hand Lions cold glimpse of reality”, in The Detroit News:

line of scrimmage
line of scrimmage#English

(American football) A player who sacks (tackles the offensive quarterback behind the line of scrimmage before he is able to throw a pass).


spy

From Middle English spien, aphetic variant of earlier espien (“to espy”), from Old French espier (“to spy”), from Frankish *spehōn (“to spy”), from Proto-Germanic *spehōną (“to see, look”), from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (“to look”). Akin to German spähen (“to spy”), Dutch spieden (“to spy”).
The noun displaced native Old English sċēawere (literally “watcher”), which was also the word for "mirror." In this sense, the verb displaced Old English sċēawian, which was also the word for "to watch" and became the Modern English word show.

ncog

(American football) A defensive player assigned to cover an offensive backfield player man-to-man when they are expected to engage in a running play, but the offensive player does not run with the ball immediately.


return

en-noun

return (countable and uncountable, plural returns)

returns (plural)
returne (alternative)
retvrn (alternative)

From Middle English returnen, retornen, from Anglo-Norman returner, from Old French retourner, retorner, from Medieval Latin retornare (“to turn back”), from re- + tornare (“to turn”). Compare beturn.

der

(American football) The act of catching a ball after a punt and running it back towards the opposing team.


receive

en-verb

receive (third-person singular simple present receives, present participle receiving, simple past and past participle received)

receives (present singular third-person)
receiving (participle present)
received (participle past)
received (past)
receave (alternative)
receyve (alternative)

From Middle English receiven, from Old French receivre, from Latin recipere (“take back, accept, etc.”), from re- (“back”) + capiō (“to take”); see capacious. Compare conceive, deceive, perceive. Displaced native Middle English terms in -fon/-fangen (e.g. afon, anfon, afangen, underfangen, etc. "to receive" from Old English -fōn), native Middle English thiggen (“to receive”) (from Old English þiċġan), and non-native Middle English aquilen, enquilen (“to receive”) (from Old French aquillir, encueillir).

der

(sports) To be in a position to take possession, or hit back the ball.

(American football) To be in a position to catch a forward pass.


lateral

Borrowed from Latin laterālis (“belonging to the side”), from latus (“the side or flank”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix).


lateral

en-verb

lateral (third-person singular simple present laterals, present participle lateralling or lateraling, simple past and past participle lateralled or lateraled)

laterals (present singular third-person)
lateralling (participle present)
lateraling (participle present)
lateralled (participle past)
lateralled (past)
lateraled (participle past)
lateraled (past)

(American football) To execute a lateral pass.


blitz

en-noun

blitz (countable and uncountable, plural blitzes)

Clipping of blitzkrieg, from German Blitzkrieg (literally “lightning war”).

der

(countable, American football) A play in which additional defenders beyond the defensive linemen rush the passer.


blitz

en-verb

blitz (third-person singular simple present blitzes, present participle blitzing, simple past and past participle blitzed)

blitzes (present singular third-person)
blitzing (participle present)
blitzed (participle past)
blitzed (past)

The Washington High defense almost always blitzes on third down.

(intransitive, American football) To perform a blitz.


convert

convert (third-person singular simple present converts, present participle converting, simple past and past participle converted)

converts (present singular third-person)
converting (participle present)
converted (participle past)
converted (past)

[kʰə̥ɱˈvɜːt]

From Old French convertir, from Latin converto (“turn around”).

Bass also kicked field goals of 40 and 49 yards, but he also missed a point-after try, which led to a 2-point conversion that the Bills converted later in the game.

2024 November 3, Jon Scott, Tommy Gallagher, “61 yards to victory: Bills ride another 2nd-half surge, beat Dolphins”, in WGRZ:

(American football) To score extra points following a touchdown.


curl

From metathesis of Middle English crulle (“curled, curly”), from Middle Dutch crul, crulle (“curl”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *kruzlǭ (“bent or crooked object, curl”), of unknown origin; possibly from Pre-Germanic *grus-, contracted from Proto-Indo-European *gurus- (“twist, curl”), same source as Persian گرس (gors, “braid of hair”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Krulle (“curl, lock”), West Frisian krul (“curl”), Dutch krul (“curl”), German Low German Krull (“curl”), dialectal German Krolle (“curl”), Danish krølle (“curl”), Norwegian krull (“curl”). Related also to Saterland Frisian Kruus (“curl”), German kraus (“frizzy, crumpled, curly”), Danish krus (“curl”), Swedish krusa (“to crimp, curl”). Compare also Gothic 𐌺𐍂𐌹𐌿𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌽 (kriustan, “to grind, crush, gnash”).

unk

unknown

cog

(American football) A pattern where the receiver appears to be running a fly pattern but after a set number of steps or yards quickly stops and turns around, looking for a pass.


secondary

From Middle English secundarie, from Latin secundārius (“of the second class or quality”), from secundus (whence the English second) + -ārius (whence the English suffix -ary), equivalent to second + -ary; compare the French secondaire, the Italian secondario, the Occitan secundari, the Portuguese secundario, and the Spanish secundario.

der

English numerals#Ordinal numbers
secondary

(American football, Canadian football) The defensive backs.


snap

en-noun

snap (countable and uncountable, plural snaps)

From Dutch snappen (“to bite; seize”) or Low German snappen (“to bite; seize”), ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *snappōn, from Proto-Germanic *snappōną (“to snap; snatch; chatter”), intensive form of *snapāną (”to snap; grab”, whence Old Norse snapa (“to get; scrounge”)), from Proto-Indo-European *snop-; compare Lithuanian snãpas (“beak, bill”). (One alternative hypothesis links the Germanic words to *snu-, an expressive root deriving words meaning “nose”, “snout”, “sniff” etc., but this is phonetically unsound.) In any case influenced by onomatopoeia; note expressions such as snip-snap, containing the formally unrelated snip.
Cognate with West Frisian snappe (“to get; catch; snap”), German schnappen (“to grab”), Swedish snappa (“to snatch”).
The verb is derived from the noun.

gloss

”to snap; grab”, whence Old Norse <i class="Latn mention" lang="non">snapa</i> (“to get; scrounge”)

sound-symbolic

expressive

onom

onomatopoeia

cog

According to Pro Football Focus, Simmons, listed at 6-foot-4 and 238 pounds, played at least 100 snaps at five positions — slot cornerback, edge rusher, linebacker and both safety spots — and finished with 16½ tackles for a loss, eight sacks, eight pass deflections and three interceptions.

(American football) A backward pass or handoff of a football from its position on the ground that puts the ball in play; a hike.


snap

en-verb

snap (third-person singular simple present snaps, present participle snapping, simple past and past participle snapped or (obsolete) snapt)

snaps (present singular third-person)
snapping (participle present)
snapped (participle past)
snapped (past)
snapt (obsolete participle past)
snapt (obsolete past)

sound-symbolic

expressive

onom

onomatopoeia

захапвам

to attempt to seize with the teeth or bite

napsauttaa

transitive: to cause something to emit a snapping sound

He can snap the ball to a back twenty yards behind him.

(transitive, American football) To put (a football) in play by a backward pass or handoff from its position on the ground; to hike (a football).

antaa aloitussyöttö

to pass the ball from the center to a back, to hike the ball


sneak

Possibly from Middle English sniken (“to creep, crawl”), from Old English snīcan (“to creep, crawl”), from Proto-West Germanic *snīkan, from Proto-Germanic *snīkaną (“to creep, crawl”), which is related to the root of snake. Compare Danish snige (“to sneak”), Swedish snika (“to sneak, hanker after”), Icelandic sníkja (“to sneak, hanker after”). Possibly related to snitch.

cog

(American football) A play where the quarterback receives the snap and immediately dives forward.


spike

en-verb

spike (third-person singular simple present spikes, present participle spiking, simple past and past participle spiked)

spikes (present singular third-person)
spiking (participle present)
spiked (participle past)
spiked (past)

From Middle English spike, spyke, spik, from Old Norse spík (“spike, sprig”), from Proto-Germanic *spīkō (“stick, splinter, point”), from Proto-Indo-European *spey- (“to be pointed; sharp point, stick”). Cognate with Icelandic spík (“spike”), Swedish spik (“spike, nail”), Dutch spijker (“nail”), Old English spīcing (“spike”), and Latin spīca (“ear of corn”), which may have influenced some senses.

der

to spike the football

“No one is spiking the football yet,” Mr. Kahl said.

2022 September 13, Julian E. Barnes, Eric Schmitt, Helene Cooper, quoting Colin Kahl, “The Critical Moment Behind Ukraine’s Rapid Advance”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(American football slang) To slam the football to the ground, usually in celebration of scoring a touchdown, or to stop expiring time on the game clock after snapping the ball as to save time for the losing team to attempt to score the tying or winning points.


clip

en-verb

clip (third-person singular simple present clips, present participle clipping, simple past and past participle clipt or clipped)

clips (present singular third-person)
clipping (participle present)
clipt (participle past)
clipt (past)
clipped (participle past)
clipped (past)

From Middle English clippen, from Old Norse klippa (“to clip, cut the hair, shear sheep”). Cognate with Icelandic klippa (“to clip”), Swedish klippa (“to clip”), Danish klippe (“to clip”), Norwegian Bokmål klippe (“to clip”).

der

(American football) To perform an illegal tackle, throwing the body across the back of an opponent's leg or hitting him from the back below the waist while moving up from behind unless the opponent is a runner or the action is in close line play.


shotgun offense

en-noun

shotgun offense (plural shotgun offenses)

(American football) An offense in which the quarterback sets up at a distance behind the center and the ball is snapped through the air.


hike

From English dialectal hyke (“to walk vigorously”), probably a Northern form of hitch, from Middle English hytchen, hichen, icchen (“to move, jerk, stir”). Cognate with Scots hyke (“to move with a jerk”), dialectal German hicken (“to hobble, walk with a limp”), Danish hinke (“to hop”). More at hick.

cog

(American football) The snap of the ball to start a play.


hike

en-verb

hike (third-person singular simple present hikes, present participle hiking, simple past and past participle hiked)

hikes (present singular third-person)
hiking (participle present)
hiked (participle past)
hiked (past)

(American football) To snap the ball to start a play.


BCS

Bowl Championship Series
w:Bowl Championship Series

(American football, historical) Initialism of Bowl Championship Series. Replaced after the 2013 season by the College Football Playoff.


audible

audible (third-person singular simple present audibles, present participle audibling, simple past and past participle audibled)

audibles (present singular third-person)
audibling (participle present)
audibled (participle past)
audibled (past)

Borrowed from Middle French audible, from Late Latin audibilis, from Latin audire (“to hear”).

The quarterback audibled after seeing the defensive formation.

(intransitive, American football) To change the play at the line of scrimmage by yelling out a new one.


audible

The audible changed the play to a run.

(American football) The act of or an instance of changing the play at the line of scrimmage by yelling out a new one.


post

→ Bulgarian: пост (post) (Internet)

→ Chinese: po, PO

Cantonese: pou¹

Mandarin: pōu

Min Nan: pho͘

→ French: post

→ Irish: post

→ Italian: post

→ Malay: pos

→ Maori: pōhi

→ Polish: post

→ Portuguese: post

→ Russian: пост (post)

→ Scottish Gaelic: post

→ Spanish: post

→ Swahili: posta

→ Welsh: post

Borrowed from Middle French poste, from Italian posta (“stopping-place for coaches”), feminine of posto (“placed, situated”).

der

Two of the receivers ran post patterns.

(American football) A moderate to deep passing route in which a receiver runs 10-20 yards from the line of scrimmage straight down the field, then cuts toward the middle of the field (towards the facing goalposts) at a 45-degree angle.


rush

Perhaps from Middle English ruschen, russchen (“to rush, startle, make a loud rushing noise”), from Old English hrysċan (“to jolt, startle”), from Proto-West Germanic *hurskijan, from Proto-Germanic *hurskijaną (“to startle, drive”), from *hurskaz (“fast, rapid, quick”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- (“to run, hurry”).
Cognate with Old High German hursken (“to hurry, speed, incite, accelerate”), Old English horsc (“quick, quick-witted, clever”).
etymology note
An alternative etymology traces rush via Middle English rouschen (“to rush”) from Old English *rūscian (“to rush”) from Proto-Germanic *rūskōną (“to rush, storm, be fierce, be cruel”), a variant (with formative k) of Proto-Germanic *rūsōną (“to be cruel, storm, rush”) from Proto-Indo-European *(o)rewə- (“to drive, move, agitate”), making it akin to Old High German rosc, rosci (“quick”), Middle Low German rûschen (“to rush”), Middle High German rūschen, riuschen (“to rush”) (German rauschen (“to rush”)), North Frisian ruse (“to rush”), Middle Dutch ruuscen (“to make haste”), Middle Dutch rūsen (“to rush”) (Dutch ruisen (“to rush”)), Danish ruse (“to rush”), Swedish rusa (“to rush”). Compare Middle High German rūsch (“a charge, rush”). Influenced by Middle English russhen (“to force back”) from Anglo-Norman russher, russer from Old French ruser, rëuser.
Alternatively, according to the OED, perhaps an adaptation of Anglo-Norman russher, russer (“to force back, down, out of place, by violent impact", "to pull out or drag off violently or hastily”), from Old French re(h)usser, ruser (although the connection of the forms with single -s- and double -ss- is dubious; also adopted in English ruse; French ruser (“to retreat, drive back”)), from an assumed Vulgar Latin *refūsāre and Latin refundō (“I cause to flow back”), although connection to the same Germanic root is also possible. More at rouse.

раш

video games: act of running at another player with large swarm of weak units — see also zerg

the center rush, whose place is in the center of the rush line

(American football, dated) A rusher; a lineman.


screen

From Middle English scren, screne (“windscreen, firescreen”), from Anglo-Norman escren (“firescreen, the tester of a bed”), Old French escren, escrein, escran (modern French écran (“screen”)), from Middle Dutch scherm, from Old Dutch *skirm, from Proto-West Germanic *skirmi, from Proto-Germanic *skirmiz (“fur, shelter, covering, screen”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut, divide”).
Cognate with Dutch scherm (“screen”), German Schirm (“screen”). Doublet of scherm.
An alternative etymology derives Old French escren, escran from Old Dutch *scranc (“barrier”) (compare Middle Dutch schranc, schranke (“palisade, trellis, grid”), German Schrank (“cupboard, cabinet”), German Schranke (“fence”)), from Proto-West Germanic *skrank, from Proto-Germanic *skrankaz.

Definitions related to standing in the path of an opposing player

(American football) Short for screen pass.

skerm

viewing area of electronic output device


moss

en-noun

moss (countable and uncountable, plural mosses)

From Middle English mos, from Old English mos (“bog, marsh, moss”), from Proto-West Germanic *mos (“marsh, moss”), from Proto-Germanic *musą (“marsh, moss”), from Proto-Indo-European *mews- (“moss”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Moas (“moss”), West Frisian moas (“moss”), Dutch mos (“moss”), German Low German Moss (“moss”), German Moos (which shows the same polysemy of "moss" and "bog, fen"), Danish mos (“moss”), Swedish mossa (“moss”), Icelandic mosi (“moss”), Latin muscus (“moss”), Russian мох (mox, “moss”), Polish mech. Doublet of mousse.

cypress moss

Hypnum cupressiforme; Lycopodium alpinum

flowering moss (Pyxidanthera barbulata; Portulaca grandiflora;

moss crop

Eriophorum vaginatum; Eriophorum polystachion; Argentina anserina, syn. Potentilla anserina; Eleocharis palustris, syn. Scirpus caespitosus

willow moss

Hypnaceae, possibly Taxiphyllum barbieri

Bro, that moss was insane!

(American football, slang, countable) A spectacular catch made over 1 or multiple defenders, typically a jump ball.


moss

en-verb

moss (third-person singular simple present mosses, present participle mossing, simple past and past participle mossed)

mosses (present singular third-person)
mossing (participle present)
mossed (participle past)
mossed (past)

You just got mossed!

(American football, slang, transitive, intransitive) To make a spectacular catch over 1 or multiple defenders.


umpire

From a Middle English rebracketing of a noumpere as an oumpere, from Old French nonper (“odd number, not even (as a tie-breaking arbitrator)”), from non (“not”) + per (“equal”), from Latin par (“equal”). Doublet of nonpareil.

съдия

an official who oversees a game or match

The umpire must keep on his toes as the play often occurs around him.

An official who presides over a sports match.

(American football) The official who stands behind the line on the defensive side or next to the referee on the offensive side.


pistol

Probably from Middle French pistole, or via Middle English pistolet, from Middle French pistolet (“small firearm or small dagger”).
The origin is unclear.
If via German to Romance probably from Middle High German forms like pischulle from Czech píšťala (“firearm”, literally “tube, pipe”), from Proto-Slavic *piščalь, from *piskati, *piščati (“to squeak, whistle”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *pīṣk-.
Alternatively, if from Romance to German, from or related to Italian pistolese (“short dagger”), from Italian Pistoia (“a Tuscan town noted for its gunsmithing”).

(American football) An offensive formation in which the quarterback receives the snap at a distance behind the center, but closer than in a shotgun formation, with a running back lined up behind him.


corner

→ German: Corner

→ Japanese: コーナー (kōnā)

From Middle English corner, from Anglo-Norman cornere (compare Old French cornier, corniere (“corner”)), from Old French corne (“corner, angle”, literally “a horn, projecting point”), from Vulgar Latin *corna (“horn”), from Latin cornua, plural of cornū (“projecting point, end, horn”). The sense of "angle, corner" in Old French is not found in Latin or other Romance languages. It was possibly calqued from Frankish *hurnijā (“corner, angle”), which is similar to, and derived from *hurn, the Frankish word for "horn". Displaced native cognate Middle English hirn, herne, from Old English hyrne, from Proto-Germanic *hurnijǭ (“little horn, hook, angle, corner”), whence modern English hirn (“nook, corner”), itself related to horn.

nurkka

business: interest that is sufficient for price manipulation

(heading) Relating to the playing field.

Relating to the playing field.
A cornerback.


air raid

(American football) A passing-heavy offensive scheme based on a shotgun formation with four wide receivers and a single running back.


zone

→ Korean: 존 (jon)

→ Punjabi: ਜ਼ੋਨ (zon)

From Latin zōna, from Ancient Greek ζώνη (zṓnē, “girdle, belt”).

der

(basketball, American football) A defensive scheme where defenders guard a particular area of the court or field, as opposed to a particular opposing player.


conversion

en-noun

conversion (countable and uncountable, plural conversions)

From Middle English conversion, conversioun, borrowed from Anglo-Norman conversion, from Latin conversiō, from convertō.

обръщане

the act of having converted something or someone

המרת דת

to replace one religious faith with another

(American football) An extra point (or two) scored by kicking a field goal or carrying the ball into the end zone after scoring a touchdown.


Viking

Borrowed from Old Norse víkingr (“Viking”). Already in Old English as wīċing and Old Frisian wītsing, but assumed extinct in Middle English and borrowed anew in the 19th century; any survivals in dialect through the Middle Ages are unknown.
Old Norse víkingr itself is from Old Norse vík (“inlet, cove, fjord”) + -ingr (“one belonging to, one who frequents”) (the -r is the nominative desinence). Thus, “one from or who frequents the sea’s inlets”.
The Old English and Anglo-Frisian form, existing since at least the eighth century, could also have been derived from or influenced by Old English wīc (“camp”), on account of the temporary encampments which were often a prominent feature of the Vikings’ raids.
Others proposals were made, like e.g. deriving víkingr from the root related to the verb víkja or deriving both English and Old Norse words to *wīkingaz related to víkja or wīc.

أُرْدَمَانِيّ

One of the Scandinavian seafaring warriors

(American football) A player on the Minnesota Vikings NFL team.


fumble

fumbles (plural)
famble (alternative)
fimble (alternative)

Late Middle English, from Low German fummeln, fommeln, fammeln (German fummeln), or Dutch fommelen.
Or, perhaps from a Scandinavian/North Germanic source; compare related Old Norse fálma, Icelandic fálma, Danish fumle, especially Swedish fumla, famla, with variants: fumbla (“fumble”), fambla (“famble”), related to Swedish fim, fem (Danish fim, Norwegian fim, feima), with a root meaning of “cover, coating of foam or figuratively ditto”, cognate to German Feim (“surf”) and English foam. Possibly has (a more or less unconscious) connection to fathom (via Old Norse faðmr, Swedish famn) in the sense of “embrace”.
The ultimate origin for either could perhaps be imitative of fumbling. Or, from Proto-Indo-European *pal- (“to shake, swing”), see also Latin palpo (“I pat, touch softly”), and possibly Proto-West Germanic *fōlijan (“to feel”).

onomatopoeic

imitative

cog

(sports, American football, Canadian football) A ball etc. that has been dropped by accident.


stunt

→ Danish: stunt

→ German: Stunt

→ Norwegian Bokmål: stunt

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: stunt

Unknown. Compare Middle Low German stunt (“a shoulder grip with which you throw someone on their back”), Middle English stunt (“foolish; stupid”).

(American football) A special means of rushing the quarterback done to confuse the opposing team's offensive line.


punt

en-verb

punt (third-person singular simple present punts, present participle punting, simple past and past participle punted)

punts (present singular third-person)
punting (participle present)
punted (participle past)
punted (past)

Possibly a dialectal variant of bunt. Rugby is the origin of the sports usage of the term.

Australian rules football
Australian rules football

To dropkick; to kick something a considerable distance.

(rugby, American football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, soccer, transitive, intransitive) To kick a ball dropped from the hands before it hits the ground. (This puts the ball farther from the goal across which the opposing team is attempting to score, so improves the chances of the team punting.)

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


punt

(rugby, American football, soccer) A kick made by a player who drops the ball and kicks it before it hits the ground.


huddle

From Middle English *hudelen, alteration (due to hudels, hidels (“hiding place”), see hiddle) of *huderen, hoderen (“to cover; press together; huddle”), a frequentative form of Middle English huden, hiden (“to hide”), equivalent to hide + -le and/or hide + -er. Compare Low German huderken (“to brood; coddle; nurse; lull children to sleep”).

cog

(American football) A brief meeting of all the players from one team that are on the field with the purpose of planning the following play.


huddle

en-verb

huddle (third-person singular simple present huddles, present participle huddling, simple past and past participle huddled)

huddles (present singular third-person)
huddling (participle present)
huddled (participle past)
huddled (past)

(intransitive, American football) To form a huddle.


intercept

intercept (third-person singular simple present intercepts, present participle intercepting, simple past and past participle intercepted)

intercepts (present singular third-person)
intercepting (participle present)
intercepted (participle past)
intercepted (past)

Borrowed from Latin interceptum, past participle of intercipiō.

(transitive, sports) To gain possession of (the ball) in a ball game.

(transitive, American football) Of a defensive player: to steal a pass thrown by the opposing team, gaining possession of the ball.


tackle

en-noun

tackle (countable and uncountable, plural tackles)

From Middle English takel (“gear, apparatus”), from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German takel (“ship's rigging”), perhaps related to Middle Dutch taken (“to grasp, seize”). Akin to Danish takkel (“tackle”), Swedish tackel (“tackle”). More at take.

der

(rugby, American football, countable) A play where a defender brings the ball carrier to the ground.

placatge

American football, rugby: play where a defender brings the ball carrier to the ground

(American football) An offensive line position between a guard and an end: offensive tackle; a person playing that position.

hyökkäävä linjamies

American football: person playing offensive tackle

(American football) A defensive position between two defensive ends: defensive tackle; a person playing that position.

puolustava linjamies

American football: person playing defensive tackle


tackle

en-verb

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

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

(rugby, American football) To bring a ball carrier to the ground.

placar

rugby, American football: to bring a ball carrier to the ground


unbalanced

en-adj

unbalanced (comparative more unbalanced, superlative most unbalanced)

more unbalanced (comparative)
most unbalanced (superlative)

(American football) an offensive line with more players on one side of the center than on the other


fullback

(American football) An offensive back whose primary jobs are to block in advance of the halfback on running plays and for the quarterback on passing plays.


neutral zone

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

(American football) A zone between the defensive line of scrimmage and the offensive line of scrimmage.

zona neutral

football: zone between the lines of scrimmage


line of scrimmage

en-noun

line of scrimmage (plural lines of scrimmage)

(American football) Either of two imaginary lines across the football field touching one of the two apices of the football which point toward either the defensive side or the offensive side before the center is allowed to touch the ball before each play.


football field

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


offensive line of scrimmage

offensive line of scrimmage (plural offensive lines of scrimmage)

(American football) The scrimmage line on the offensive side of the football field.


running back

(American football) An offensive back whose primary job is to be the ballcarrier.


ball carrier

ball carriers (plural)
ballcarrier (alternative)

(American football, Canadian football, rugby) A player who carries the football.


offensive back

(American football) A player for the team in possession of the ball who lines up behind the line of scrimmage at the start of a play.


one-minute warning

one-minute warning (plural one-minute warnings)

(American football) In the AFL, a warning given with one minute to go before the end of a half, after which special rules apply, eg, stoppage of the game clock after very first down.


AFL

Arena Football League
w:Arena Football League

(American football) Initialism of Arena Football League.

American Football League
w:American Football League

(obsolete, American football) Initialism of American Football League.


first down

(American football) The first play in a series that has a maximum of four downs.

(American football) The act of getting a first down by advancing the ball more than ten yards ahead of the field position where the team took possession.


football player

football player (plural football players)

football players (plural)
football-player (alternative)

(American football, US) One who plays American football.


quarterback

From quarter + back, in reference to position in front of the halfback position.

Standing 6-foot-6, 237 pounds, Herbert’s size and arm strength are consistent with a prototypical N.F.L. quarterback, and he led the Ducks to a Pac-12 championship and a victory at the Rose Bowl in January with not much talent at receiver.

(American football, Canadian football) An offensive back whose primary job is to pass the ball in a play.

(American football, historical) An offensive back who receives the snap (hike) and then blocks the defense from crossing the line of scrimmage; a blocking back.


quarterback

en-verb

quarterback (third-person singular simple present quarterbacks, present participle quarterbacking, simple past and past participle quarterbacked)

quarterbacks (present singular third-person)
quarterbacking (participle present)
quarterbacked (participle past)
quarterbacked (past)

(American football) To play the position of quarterback.


forward pass

(rugby and American football) A pass in the forward direction, advancing toward the goal, generally illegal except in American football, once per play, from behind the line of scrimmage.


neutral-zone infraction

en-noun

neutral-zone infraction (plural neutral-zone infractions)

(American football) an infraction in which a football player, on defense, gets into or crosses the neutral zone during the snap, causing an offensive player to false start. The penalty is against the defense, not the offense. It is a 5 yard penalty.


hand-off

hand-off (countable and uncountable, plural hand-offs)

(American football) A pass made in a backward direction.


wide receiver

All season, the Chiefs have struggled on offense, in particular in the pass catching department. On multiple occasions throughout the regular season, Mahomes was burned by mental miscues from his wide receivers which cost the Chiefs wins.

2024 February 12, Ben Morse and Steve Almasy, “Kansas City Chiefs defeat San Francisco 49ers in OT in Super Bowl LVIII, become first back-to-back NFL champions in 19 years”, in CNN.com:

(American football) An offensive football player whose position on the line of scrimmage is farthest from the ball and whose function is to principally to catch passes.

laitahyökkääjä

American football: offensive player position


receiver

From Anglo-Norman receverre, receivour et al., later also reformed as receive + -er. Compare recevor, rescaivour.

curator

person appointed to settle financial affairs

прыёмнік

electronic device that receives and converts signal

(American football) An offensive player who catches the ball after it has been passed.


shoestring

The noun is derived from shoe + string. The adjective is derived from the noun, while the verb is derived from terms such as shoestring catch and shoestring tackle.

(US, chiefly American football, baseball) Of a catch or tackle: made near the ground, close to a player's shoes.

jalka-

of a catch or tackle: made near the ground, close to a player’s shoes


shoestring

en-verb

shoestring (third-person singular simple present shoestrings, present participle shoestringing, simple past and past participle shoestringed)

shoestrings (present singular third-person)
shoestringing (participle present)
shoestringed (participle past)
shoestringed (past)

shoestring tackle
shoestring tackle#English

(transitive, American football) To tackle (a player) using a shoestring tackle (“one made near the ground, close to a player's shoes”).

taklata alas

to tackle (a player) using a shoestring tackle


flare

→ Italian: flare

Origin unknown, first recorded in the mid 16th century, probably related to Latin flagrō (“I burn”). Norwegian flara (“to blaze; to flaunt in gaudy attire”) has a similar meaning, but the English word predates it. Possibly related to Middle High German vlederen (“to flutter”), represented by modern German flattern.
The noun is derived from the verb.

unknown

Origin unknown

ярка светлина

source of brightly burning light or intense heat

Stulp

widening of an object with otherwise roughly constant width

разкрояване

widening of the lower legs of trousers and jeans

(American football) A route run by the running back, releasing toward the sideline and then slightly arcing upfield looking for a short pass.


false start

(American football) The act of an offensive player moving across the line of scrimmage prior to the snap.


linesman

(American football) An official whose primary task is to determine whether there has been a line of scrimmage violation.

linjatuomari

American football: official who determines if there has been a line of scrimmage violation


lineman

(American football) A player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage.


completion

en-noun

completion (countable and uncountable, plural completions)

termination

antonym(s) of “making complete, accomplishment”

Borrowed from Latin completio, completionem, from complere (“to fill up, complete”); comparable to English complete + -ion.

(American football) A forward pass that is successfully caught by the intended receiver.


Aztec

From Spanish azteca, from Classical Nahuatl aztēcah, plural of aztēcatl (“inhabitant of Aztlán”).

(American football) A hybrid defensive back position combining aspects of the safety, nickelback and linebacker positions.


Cardinal

(American football) A player on the Arizona Cardinals team.


Giant

(American football) A player for the New York Giants.


Lion

(American football) A player for National Football League's Detroit Lions.


PK

PK (countable and uncountable, plural PKs)

(American football) Initialism of placekicker.


Patriot

(American football, NFL) A member of the New England Patriots professional football team.


Will

Shortened from William or, less often, from other given names beginning with Wil-, such as Wilfred or Willard.

Will linebacker drops to turn-in, QB dropping dumps the ball off to HB.

1997, F Henderson, M Olson, Football's West Coast Offense, page 7:

Our Will linebacker, because he is away from the formation or to the split end, should be a great pursuit man and pass defender.
Will covers the back side hook zone on the weak side.

2000, American Football Coaches Association, Defensive Football Strategies, page 25:

(American football) A weak-side linebacker.


DB

(American football, Canadian football) Initialism of defensive back.


CB

CB (countable and uncountable, plural CBs)

(American football, Gaelic football, hurling) Initialism of cornerback.

Gaelic football; hurling; Gaelic football; hurling


Bengal

Borrowed from Portuguese Bengala, from Classical Persian بَنْگَالَه (bangāla), from Middle Bengali বাঙ্গালা (baṅgala), said to be from the Vanga Kingdom, of uncertain ultimate origin. Vangalam has been attested in medieval South India. Doublet of Bangla.

Jones became a Bengal in a trade for Smith.

(American football) A player on the team The Cincinnati Bengals.


hand off

en-verb

hand off (third-person singular simple present hands off, present participle handing off, simple past and past participle handed off)

hands off (present singular third-person)
handing off (participle present)
handed off (participle past)
handed off (past)

(American football) To pass (the ball) to a teammate.


kicker

(American football) A placekicker: a player who kicks the football during free kicks, kick offs, field goals, and extra point tries.


OT

en-noun

OT (countable and uncountable, plural OTs)

offensive tackle
offensive tackle#English

(American football, Canadian football) Initialism of offensive tackle.


hacking

hacking (usually uncountable, plural hackings)

From Middle English hackynge, hakkynge, hacckinge, equivalent to hack + -ing.

(sports, chiefly American football, soccer, rugby) A kick in the shins.


TD

TD (countable and uncountable, plural TDs)

When he and his Cincinnati Bengal playmates were done with the AFC’s best defense, that of the New York-New Jersey Jets, he had done Supermannish damage — 30 carries, 139 yards and two TDs — as the Bengals won, 36-19.

1988 October 10, Gary Nuhn, “Bengals put Jets, ghosts of ’87 to rest”, in Dayton Daily News, volume 112, number 31, Dayton, Ohio, page 1-B:

(American football, Canadian football) Abbreviation of touchdown.


cornerback

The cornerback tipped the ball away from the receiver.

(American football, Gaelic football, hurling) Any of the defensive players who are in position on each side farthest laterally from the ball and whose principal responsibility is to defend against passes.


two-minute warning

two-minute warning (plural two-minute warnings)

(American football) In the NFL, a timeout and warning given to the coaches with two minutes to go before the end of each half.


halfback

From half + back, in reference to position on the field of play; compare fullback.
In the sense of someone who moves to Florida and then to a more temperate climate, from moving "half way back"

(field sports) A player who occupies one of these positions.

(American football) An offensive back whose primary jobs are to carry the ball on running plays and to serve as a receiver or blocker on passing plays.


field goal

field goals (plural)
drop-kick (alternative)
field-goal (alternative)

He kicked a 33 yard field goal just before the half.

Sure, Homer and Marge being caught naked in front of the town is funny, but why not make it total humiliation? Why not have Homer dragged ass-first over a church’s glass ceiling and force the pastor to give praise to God’s floors? Why not have Homer’s rear end block a game-winning field goal?

2016 January 24, Les Chappell, “TV: Review: The Simpsons (Classic), “Natural Born Kissers” (season nine, episode 25, originally aired 05/17/1998)”, in The Onion AV Club:

(American football, Canadian football) A kick of the ball through the uprights and over the crossbar (not after a touchdown). It scores 3 points.


offensive tackle

offensive tackle (plural offensive tackles)

One of the few surprises saw the New York Giants take offensive tackle Andrew Thomas at number four while the Buccaneers traded up to 13 for offensive tackle Tristian Wirfs to give some protection to their new quarterback Brady.

2020 April 24, “NFL draft 2020: Joe Burrow first pick for Cincinnati Bengals”, in BBC Sport:

(American football) A lineman for the team in possession of the ball located outside one of the guard positions.

bloquejador

lineman outside guard position in the offensive team


defensive tackle

defensive tackle (plural defensive tackles)

(American football) Any of a few defensive positions in the middle of the defensive line.


tight end

National Football League
New England Patriots
Rob Gronkowski
Tampa Bay Buccaneers

From tight (“of a space, arrangement, etc.: narrow, such that it is difficult for something or someone to pass through it”) + end (“position at the end of either the offensive or defensive line; player playing this position”), from the fact that the player takes up a position close to the tackle.

近端鋒 /近端锋

(American football, Canadian football) position at the end of the offensive line

Jones played tight end.

The position at the end of the offensive line whose primary jobs are to block and serve as a short receiver.

The tight end caught the pass.

He has also written about some on the Right’s aversion to the N.F.L., particularly as some concoct convoluted conspiracy theories involving singer Taylor Swift and her boyfriend, the Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, while others denounce professional sports as a whole.

2024 February 11, Jane Coaston, “What MAGA Influencers Are Missing About Football”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

A player (called an end) playing the position of tight end (sense 1.1).

ala tancat

(American football, Canadian football) player playing the position of tight end


split end

Jones played split end.

offensive line of scrimmage
offensive line of scrimmage

(American football) The position which lines up wide and on the offensive line of scrimmage, whose primary job is to serve as a wide receiver.

The split end ran deep.

(American football) A player playing the position of split end.


offensive line

(American football, Canadian football) The five players of the team possessing the ball comprising the center, the left and right offensive guards, and the left and right offensive tackles who are positioned around the ball at the line of scrimmage.

(American football, Canadian football, uncommon) The seven players required to be within one yard of the line of scrimmage in an offensive formation.

(American football, Canadian football, uncommon) All of the offensive players, whether obligatory or not, lined up one yard or less from the line of scrimmage.


lateral pass

(American football) a pass thrown laterally and that counts as a hand-off

(American football) any hand-off, whether lateral or backward


backward pass

(American football) A pass thrown backwards instead of forward, equivalent in the rules to a hand-off.


hard count

Jones is good at drawing a defense offside with his hard count.

(American football) The situation where the quarterback attempts to draw the defense offside through a deceptive snap count sequence, sometimes accompanied by subtle body movements which simulate the initiation of the play.


linebacker

The linebacker corralled the runner who had slipped through the hole.

(American football) The defensive players who are in position behind the defensive linemen and in front of the safeties and cornerbacks and whose principal responsibilities are to tackle runners and to defend against shorter passes.


Cardinals

(American football) The team Arizona Cardinals.


Jints

Eye dialect for popular New York City pronunciation of giants

On Sunday it would be even more drinking, plus the Times, and the pitiful "Jints" on TV.

2000, James Patterson, The Midnight Club, page 101:

(American football, informal) The New York Giants.


NFI

(American football) Initialism of non-football injury; any injury sustained by a player outside of games or training.


FCS

w:NCAA Division I#Football Championship Subdivision

(American football) Initialism of Football Championship Subdivision.


facemask

facemasks (plural)
face mask (alternative)

潛水面罩 /潜水面罩

covering used to protect the face used for diving

(American football, Canadian football) The part of the helmet that directly covers the face, made of one or more plastic-coated metal bars.

(American football, Canadian football) The foul of grasping it during play.


face mask penalty

en-noun

face mask penalty (plural face mask penalties)

(American football) A penalty in American football where one player grabs the face mask of an opposing player. There are two versions of this penalty: incidental face mask penalty and the more serious personal foul face mask penalty.


bootleg

From boot + leg. Originally a nickname given to smugglers in King George III's reign, derived from the smugglers' custom of hiding packages of valuables in their large sea-boots when dodging the king's coastguardsmen.

(American football) A play in which the quarterback fakes a handoff, conceals the ball against his hip, and rolls out.


touchback

The ball sailed into the end zone for a touchback and the Eagles had possession on the 20-yard line. https://web.archive.org/web/20060111202354/http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/gameday/postGameArchive.jsp?id=16746

(American football) The result of a play (usually a kickoff or punt) in which the ball passes out the back of the end zone or a team otherwise gains possession of the ball in their own end zone.


clipping

clipping (countable and uncountable, plural clippings)

(uncountable, American football, Canadian football) Falling, rolling, or throwing one's body on the back of an opponent's legs after approaching from behind.


drop kick

drop kicks (plural)
drop-kick (alternative)

(rugby, Australian rules football, American football, Canadian football) A kick made by dropping the ball on the ground and kicking it as it bounces up.


throw away

en-verb

throw away (third-person singular simple present throws away, present participle throwing away, simple past threw away, past participle thrown away)

throws away (present singular third-person)
throwing away (participle present)
threw away (past)
thrown away (participle past)

(American football, slang) To intentionally throw an incomplete pass.


two-way

From two + way. Compare Old English twiweġ (“intersection, junction of two roads”).

cog

(American football) Playing both offense and defense in the same game.


yardage

en-noun

yardage (countable and uncountable, plural yardages)

Aiyuk a junior college transfer excels in grabbing yardage after the catch. No, like, really excels. In mid-October, according a story by The Athletic, Aiyuk was averaging more yards after the catch (13.6) than Jerry Jeudy was averaging per catch

2020 April 24, Ken Belson, Ben Shpigel, “Full Round 1 2020 N.F.L. Picks and Analysis”, in New York Time:


pile-up

(colloquial) A pile, a group of people or things which have piled up on one another, especially

(American football) A pile of tackling players.


RT

RT (countable and uncountable, plural RTs)

(American football, Canadian football) Initialism of right tackle.


goal line

(American football) part of a vertical plane separating an end zone from the field of play when the ball is touched or is in player possession. The plane extends beyond the sidelines. A team’s goal line is that which it is defending.


free kick

a free-kick specialist

(American football, soccer, Australian rules football, rugby, other ballgames) a kick in which a player may kick the ball without interference from the opposition. Such a kick may be awarded for a foul by the opposition, or earned by a player such as by taking a mark.

Australian rules football; other ballgames; Australian rules football; other ballgames

goditje e lirë

kick played without interference of opposition


gridiron

gridiron (countable and uncountable, plural gridirons)

From resembling the shape of a gridiron (a square rectilinear grid).

(American football) The field on which American football is played.


kick-off

kick-offs (plural)
kickoff (alternative)

The atmosphere at Upton Park before kick-off reflected the palpable tension surrounding the club right now

2011 January 11, Jonathan Stevenson, “West Ham 2 - 1 Birmingham”, in BBC:

Alcohol consumption following football matches is fuelling domestic abuse in the hours after a game, according to new evidence suggesting that changing kick-off times could help reduce violence.

2021 July 4, Michael Savage, “Early kick-offs linked to more alcohol abuse and violence in the home”, in The Observer:

(soccer, American football) The opening kick of each half of a game of football.


wingback

(American football) A running back who is in formation near the line of scrimmage and outside the tackles, a slotback.


halftime

halftime (countable and uncountable, plural halftimes)

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

(American football) The halftime show, the primary light entertainment of a game, after the second quarter, when players can physically recover, coaches can give players a pep talk, bets can be doubled, etc.


coordinator

coordinators (plural)
coördinator (alternative)
co-ordinator (alternative)

→ Japanese: コーディネーター (kōdinētā)

en:assistant coach or similar role in sports

(sports, chiefly American football) An assistant coach responsible for a particular facet of the game, such as defense.


the sticks

Possibly derived from 1800s Chinook Jargon stick (“tree, forest”), from English stick.

They gained just enough on that play to move the sticks and continue the drive.

(American football) The set of yardage markers used by a chain crew to indicate the ten yards between the line of scrimmage from the previous first down and the line to gain, which the offense must reach in their series of four downs in order to retain possession of the ball.


snapper

snappers (plural)
schnapper (alternative)

(American football) The player who snaps the ball to start the play.


air out

en-verb

air out (third-person singular simple present airs out, present participle airing out, simple past and past participle aired out)

airs out (present singular third-person)
airing out (participle present)
aired out (participle past)
aired out (past)

(American football, slang) To throw passes, especially long and high passes.


rover

From Middle English roven (“to wander, to shoot an arrow randomly”) + -er.

inh

I went to Coach Beamer and, because we had a lot of outside linebackers, ask him if I could play rover.

2011, Frank Beamer, Always a Hokie: Players, Coaches, and Fans Share Their Passion for Virginia Tech Football:

(American football) A defensive back position whose coverage responsibilities are a hybrid of those of a cornerback, safety and linebacker.


goalpost

/ˈɡəʊlpəʊst/

(sports, American football) The tall Y-shaped upright, now usually of fiberglass, at either end of the playing field, through which a football must go in order for a field goal to be scored. (They were originally H-shaped, with one wooden post on either side.)


interception

en-noun

interception (countable and uncountable, plural interceptions)

Borrowed from Latin interceptiō; compare French interception.

(American football) A passing play where the ball is caught by the opposing team.


tailback

(American football) A running back or halfback who lines up furthest to the rear in an I formation.


WR

(American football, Canadian football) Initialism of wide receiver.


backfield

(sports) The rear part of the field of play, particularly

(American football) The area behind the line of scrimmage occupied before the snap by the team on offense.


rusher

(American football) The fast defensive position whose objective is to sack the offensive team's quarterback.


Super Bowl

From super + bowl, from bowl games such as the Rose Bowl Game and Orange Bowl.

(American football) The championship game of the NFL played in early February played between two teams, one each in the American Football Conference and National Football Conference.

Jooł Yitalíjí Akéeʼdi Ahąąh Honinééhígíí


move the yardsticks

en-verb

move the yardsticks (third-person singular simple present moves the yardsticks, present participle moving the yardsticks, simple past and past participle moved the yardsticks)

moves the yardsticks (present singular third-person)
moving the yardsticks (participle present)
moved the yardsticks (participle past)
moved the yardsticks (past)

The phrase originates from American football, where every ten yards of forward progress by the offense moves the yardsticks ahead to measure the next ten yards of progress.


flanker

Audio (US)

From flank + -er. The verb is from the noun (sense 3).

(American football) A wide receiver who lines up behind the line of scrimmage.


playbook

(US, American football) A book of strategies (plays) for use in American football (and by extension other sports or disciplines).


drop back

drop back (third-person singular simple present drops back, present participle dropping back, simple past and past participle dropped back)

drops back (present singular third-person)
dropping back (participle present)
dropped back (participle past)
dropped back (past)

The Tiger quarterback is dropping back to pass.

(American football) Of a quarterback or other player in the backfield, to take a number of steps back from the line of scrimmage immediately after the snap or hike of the ball, to avoid defenders.


drop back

With his ankle injury his drop back is not pretty.

(American football) The act by a player in the backfield of dropping back from the line of scrimmage after the hike of the ball.


drop-back

With his ankle injury his drop-back is not pretty.


touch down

touch down (third-person singular simple present touches down, present participle touching down, simple past and past participle touched down)

touches down (present singular third-person)
touching down (participle present)
touched down (participle past)
touched down (past)
touchdown (alternative)
touch-down (alternative)

(American football) To score a touchdown


end run

(American football) A running play in which the player carrying the ball attempts to avoid being tackled by evading the defending players from the opposing team.


gunner

Cebuano: gunner

gonna (non-rhotic, based on the /ˈɡʌn.ə/ pronunciation)

From Middle English gonner; equivalent to gun + -er.

(American football) A player on the kicking team whose primary job is to tackle the kickoff returner or punt returner.


two-point conversion

en-noun

two-point conversion (plural two-point conversions)

(American football) An option, for a team that has scored a touchdown, to gain two points by getting the ball into the end zone by a running or pass play, in lieu of a kicked extra point.


extra point

(American football) A point scored after a touchdown by kicking the ball through the goal posts or by advancing to the end zone.


end zone

Veteran tight end Travis Kelce, who only had one catch for one yard in the first half, finished with nine receptions and 93 yards but didn’t find the end zone.

(American football) The area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines, bordered on all sides by a white line indicating its beginning and end points; it is 10 yards long.


fair catch

(American football) An uncontested catch on a kicking play, after the receiver waves his hand to indicate that he will not run with the ball, assuring that he will not be tackled on catching it.


illegal forward kick

illegal forward kick (plural illegal forward kicks)

(American football) Any kick made from in front of the line of scrimmage. This results in a loss of down and a ten yard penalty.


short pass

(American football) A pass of the ball that is primarily to the side rather than one that gains yardage.


quarterbacking

(American football) The act of playing as a quarterback


DT

DT (countable and uncountable, plural DTs)

DTs (plural)
DT. (alternative)
Dt. (alternative)
Dt (alternative)
D/T (alternative)

defensive tackle
defensive tackle#English

(American football, Canadian football) Initialism of defensive tackle.


LB

(American football) Initialism of linebacker.


HB

(American football) Initialism of halfback.


second down

(American football) The second down in a series that has a maximum of four downs.


third down

(American football) The third down in a series that has a maximum of four downs; traditionally the last running/passing play before punting.


fourth down

Mahomes converted key fourth downs with his legs and looked to Kelce throughout the second half and overtime – the tight end finished with nine receptions and 93 yards after just one catch in the opening half.

(American football) The fourth down in a series that has a maximum of four downs; often used to punt the ball downfield or attempt a field goal (If not punted or converted, the opposing team takes possession wherever the ball is).


red zone

(American football) The area extending twenty yards from the end zone, where a team in possession of the ball is expected to score.


uprights

(American football, rugby) Vertical (upright) posts of the goal.


XFL

Xtreme Football League
w:en:Xtreme Football League

(sports, American football) Initialism of Xtreme Football League.

Extreme Football League
w:en:Extreme Football League

(sports, American football) Initialism of Extreme Football League.


PF

PF (countable and uncountable, plural PFs)

Coordinate term: PA

The Giants and Commanders have the same record after 13 games each. However, Washington has control of third place in the NFC East due to a better PF/PA record in comparison to the Giants.

2022 December 14, “NFL Playoff picture Week 15: Are the New York Giants still in contention for the postseason?”, in Sportskeeda, archived from the original on 2022-12-17:

(American football, fantasy football) Initialism of points for.


(American football) A player for the San Francisco 49ers, an NFL team.


hangtime

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

(skateboarding, American football) The length of time something can stay in the air.


student body

student body left

student body right

(American football slang) A football play in which most of the players run to one side of the field.


FBS

w:NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision

(American football) Initialism of Football Bowl Subdivision.


rollout

rollouts (plural)
roll-out (alternative)

(American football) A play in which a quarterback moves toward the sideline before attempting to pass.


gain line

gain lines (plural)
gainline (alternative)

(American football) Alternative form of line to gain


ground game

ground game (countable and uncountable, plural ground games)

Notre Dame, with its option-type quarterback, Tony Rice, is committed to the ground game.

1988 November 26, Mal Florence, “They Take Case to Polls Today USC-Notre Dame Game Could Settle Score for No. 1”, in Los Angeles Times, archived from the original on 2013-06-30, page Sports 3:

(American football, countable) Running with the ball, rather than passing


returner

(American football) A player who runs back a ball which has been punted or kicked


runback

A fifty yard runback of a punt by Jack Reed in the fourth period gave Bowdoin a 6-0 win over Williams today in a driving rain.

1936 October 18, “Fifty Yard Runback of Punt Gives Bowdoin 6-0 Win Over Williams”, in Hartford Courant, archived from the original on 2013-06-30, page C4:

(American football) The act of returning a kicked ball, such as from a punt or kickoff