Palace

Crystal Palace Football Club
w:Crystal Palace Football Club

(UK, soccer) Ellipsis of Crystal Palace Football Club (“a football team from London”).


Canary

From 1907, coined by the football club's then-chairman who was a keen breeder of canaries.

(soccer) Someone connected with Norwich City Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Pirate

(sports) someone connected with any of a number of sports teams known as the Pirates, as a fan, player, coach etc.

(soccer) someone connected with Bristol Rovers Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Addick

Various theories: perhaps from athletic or haddock.

(soccer) someone connected with Charlton Athletic Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Scummer

(soccer, derogatory) someone connected with Southampton Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Hatter

(soccer) someone connected with Luton Town Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Saddler

(soccer) someone connected with Walsall Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Seagull

(soccer) Someone connected with Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Glover

My guide tells me of Yeovil's 'considerable glove trade', which is why the giant-killing footie club, Yeovil Town FC, is known as 'The Glovers'.

2023 June 28, Stephen Roberts, “Bradshaw's Britain: Alton to Exeter”, in RAIL, number 986, page 60:

(soccer) someone connected with Yeovil Town Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Shrimper

(soccer) someone connected with Southend United Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Chairboy

(soccer) someone connected with Wycombe Wanderers Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


scummer

(UK, soccer, slang, derogatory, offensive) A supporter of Southampton F.C..


break-building

breakbuilding (alternative)
break building (alternative)

(snooker) The act or skill of scoring points by making an uninterrupted series of pots.


CCM

Central Coast Mariners
w:Central Coast Mariners FC

(soccer) Initialism of Central Coast Mariners.


cold deck

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

From the metaphor that the deck (of cards) is cold, in the sense "heartless, emotionless".

The cold deck can be run into play by the cheat himself or by his accomplice […]

1991, A. D. Livingston, Poker Strategy and Winning Play, page 84:

(gambling) A pre-shuffled deck of cards substituted for the real deck in order to cheat.


on base

One run, two hits, one walk, no errors; two left on base.

(baseball) Having reached a base in an inning.


pawnless

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

a pawnless endgame


LOSC

Lille Olympique Sporting Club
w:Lille OSC

(soccer) Initialism of Lille Olympique Sporting Club.


AJA

Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise
w:AJA

(soccer) Initialism of Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise.


beach soccer

(soccer) a variant of soccer played on a smaller-sized sand pitch.


TFC

Toulouse Football Club
w:Toulouse Football Club

(soccer) Initialism of Toulouse Football Club, a French football (soccer) club from Toulouse

Toulouse Football Club

(soccer) Initialism of Toronto FC, a Canadian soccer club from Toronto


chesspiece

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

Sacrifice is one of the essential metaphors of the Trilogy, and here, the sacrifice of the chesspiece foreshadows that John Grady will later give his life in avenging the death of the woman he loves.

2000, Rick Wallach, Myth, legend, dust: critical responses to Cormac McCarthy:

The Queen, for instance, is termed the " strongest," or the ** most powerful" of the chesspieces

2008, Franklin Knowles Young, Chess Strategetics Illustrated:

This tower [Torre de Belem] resembling an oversized chesspiece is another architectural wonder of the same era

2008 November 13, Sydney Morning Herald, 24 hours in Lisbon:

(chess) Alternative spelling of chess piece.


slash line

His slash line since being traded is .262/.344/.427.

(baseball) The batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging average of a batter or team when expressed together, separated by slashes.

The opponent slash line against Jones this season is a weak .195/.232/.367.

(baseball) The batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging average of batters that have had plate appearances against a pitcher or team.


subway series

(baseball, US) a cross-town playoff battle between the New York Mets and New York Yankees

(baseball, US, dated) a crosstown baseball series playoff between two New York City baseball clubs; the Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants, and New York Yankees.


Battle of Alberta

(Canadian football) the competition between the Edmonton Elks (formerly Eskimos) and Calgary Stampeders teams of the CFL


small ball

(baseball, slang) A baseball strategy that relies on baserunning, singles, and hitting for average rather than hitting home runs.


Bronx Bombers

(US, baseball) nickname of the New York Yankees


White Sox

From white + sox, the footwear worn by the members of the team.

(US, baseball) The Chicago White Sox, an American baseball club.


Triple Crown

(baseball) The feat of leading one's league in three key statistical categories—batting average, home runs, and RBI for hitters; wins, strikeouts, and ERA for pitchers

(rugby) Victory by one of the Home Nations — England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales — over the other three in the annual Six Nations Championship.


FFF

French Football Federation
w:French Football Federation

(soccer) Initialism of French Football Federation.


go upstairs

en-verb

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

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

From the practice of the third umpire having a room with an elevated position.

(cricket, of an umpire) To request a decision by the third umpire (traditionally by making a sign of a TV set with the hands)


Wallabies

(rugby) the national rugby union representative team of Australia


Matildas

(soccer) the women's national soccer representative team of Australia

Australia women's national association football team


Super Eagles

(soccer) The Nigeria national football team


Super Falcons

(soccer) The Nigeria women's national football team


PBM

(games, communication) Initialism of play-by-mail.


PBeM

(games, communication) Initialism of play-by-email; also PBEM.


BFC

Brentford Football Club
w:Brentford F.C.

(soccer) Initialism of Brentford Football Club.

Blackpool Football Club
w:Blackpool F.C.

(soccer) Initialism of Blackpool Football Club.


CCFC

Coventry City Football Club
w:Coventry City Football Club

(soccer) Initialism of Coventry City Football Club.

Cardiff City Football Club
w:Cardiff City Football Club

(soccer) Initialism of Cardiff City Football Club.


Oranje

(soccer) the Netherlands national football team


intentional grounding

en-noun

intentional grounding (plural intentional groundings)

(American football) An instance when the quarterback throws the ball into the ground or into the crowds to avoid being sacked and losing field position.


three-minute warning

three-minute warning (plural three-minute warnings)

(Canadian football) A timeout and warning given to the coaches with three minutes to go before the end of each half; after this point, the clock stops at the end of every play. Analogous to the two-minute warning of American football.


retractor

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

(chess) A chess puzzle in which a number of moves are retracted and the solver is challenged to reach an alternate outcome.


goalhanger

(informal, soccer) A player who stays near the opposing team's goal in the hope of easily scoring.


off-speed

(baseball) Being a pitch thrown at a slower speed than a fastball, such as a change-up.


CONCACAF

Association Football
association football

(soccer) Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football — the governing body for the sport in the aforementioned region, also including the South American countries of French Guiana, Guyana, and Suriname.


walkless

It was a walkless inning.


quadfecta

He won the Superfecta and the Quadfecta all in the same day at Hollywood Park Casino in Los Angeles.

2010, George V. Bush, Magazine Man “A Slave To The Sale”, unnumbered page:

(gambling, horse racing) A bet in which the bettor must select the winners of the first four places (i.e., first, second, third, and fourth) of a race in the correct order.


eephus

The naming of the pitch is generally credited to Maurice Van Robays in 1942, who said "it's a nothin' pitch, and eephus ain't nothing'". However, it is not clear what the source for the name is; possibly Hebrew אפס (“nothing, zero”).

eephus pitch (alternative)
ephus (alternative)

Sewell was determined to live or die by the eephus.

2003, Michael Seidel, Ted Williams: a baseball life:

He figured that, if it were another eephus, he'd have time to react.

2004, Fred Cicetti, Saltwater Taffy: A Summer at the Jersey Shore:

When, on his first pitch, Sewell served an eephus, Williams almost broke his back trying to get to it.

2005, Randy Roberts, The rock, the curse, and the hub: a random history of Boston sports:

(baseball) An off-speed pitch with unusually low velocity, intended to catch the hitter off guard.


tablebase

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

(chess) A computerized database that contains precalculated exhaustive analysis of a chess endgame position, typically used by a computer chess engine during play.


crotched

en-adj

crotched (comparative more crotched, superlative most crotched)

more crotched (comparative)
most crotched (superlative)

When so crotched, only three counts are allowed, unless one or both object balls are forced out of the crotch.

1909, John Huston Finley, “Billiards”, in Nelson's Perpetual Loose-leaf Encyclopaedia, volume 2, page 83B:

The object-balls shall be considered crotched whenever the centers of both lie within a 4 1/2 inch square at either corner of the table, and when so crotched, but three counts are allowed unless one or both object-balls be forced out of the crotch.

1911, William Brisbane Dick, The American Hoyle: Or, Gentleman's Hand-book of Games, page 463:

The balls are said to be crotched, a crotch being the term used to describe the inner corner of a table . It's a perfect situation for scoring caroms . You simply tap the cue ball into both crotched balls simultaneously, driving them deeper and deeper into the corner.

1979, George Sullivan, The Complete Beginner's Guide to Pool and Other Billiard Games, page 149:

(billiards) Lying within one of the crotches on the table.


scorebox

(cricket) An enclosed structure in which the scorers sit; often behind the scoreboard


trouble the scorers

en-verb

trouble the scorers (third-person singular simple present troubles the scorers, present participle troubling the scorers, simple past and past participle troubled the scorers)

troubles the scorers (present singular third-person)
troubling the scorers (participle present)
troubled the scorers (participle past)
troubled the scorers (past)

(cricket, informal, almost always in the negative) To score a run.


sixer

(cricket, colloquial) A shot in which the ball passes over the boundary without touching the ground, for which the batting team is awarded six runs.


centre half

centre halves (plural)
centre-half (alternative)
centrehalf (alternative)


centerfield

centerfields (plural)
centrefield (alternative)

(baseball) The central part of the outfield


crazy eights

We played crazy eights, war, fifty-two card pickup. Rudy flipped the whole deck across the table at me and the cards sailed to the floor, kings, queens, deuces.

2004, Karen Salyer McElmurray, Strange Birds in the Tree of Heaven:

(card games) A card game in which players try to rid themselves of their cards by playing a matching rank or suit on the previous card played, having to draw an additional card if unable to do this; a player who plays an eight can dictate the suit to be played next.

seiska

similar card game, seven instead of eight


misfield

misfield (third-person singular simple present misfields, present participle misfielding, simple past and past participle misfielded)

misfields (present singular third-person)
misfielding (participle present)
misfielded (participle past)
misfielded (past)

The verb is derived from mis- (prefix meaning ‘badly; wrongly’) + field (verb). The noun is derived from the verb.

prefix

Coordinate term: mishit

(transitive) To field (“catch or intercept and play”) (a ball) clumsily or ineptly; in cricket this can result in the batsman scoring another run.

(intransitive) To field a ball clumsily or ineptly.

pelata pallo huonosti

(transitive) to field (a ball) clumsily or ineptly; (intransitive) to field a ball clumsily or ineptly


misfield

(baseball, cricket, rugby) A failure to field (“catch or intercept and play”) a ball properly.


outcurve

(baseball) A ball, thrown by the pitcher, that curves away from the batter.


second guesser

second guessers (plural)
second-guesser (alternative)

From second + guesser. First use appears c. 1937. By a back-formation, second-guess as a verb appears a few years later in 1941.
From second guess + -er.

(baseball, slang, originally) A person, particularly a fan, who questions or criticizes decisions made by the players or managers, especially after the results of those actions are known.


deck out

en-verb

deck out (third-person singular simple present decks out, present participle decking out, simple past and past participle decked out)

decks out (present singular third-person)
decking out (participle present)
decked out (participle past)
decked out (past)

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

(intransitive, card games) To forfeit by running out of cards in a deck.


cricket whites

(cricket) The traditional clothing worn by cricketers, consisting of white trousers, shirt and optionally sweater.


I can ascertain that even in the present era where T20 cricket has redefined spin bowling and spinners have started bowling doosras and teesras and fire the deliveries in, you can expect Bishan Singh Bedi to stick to his original definition, and insist that, 'A spinner is one who turns the ball...'

2021, Neha Bedi, Sachin Bajaj, The Sardar of Spin:


Snickometer

Snickometers (plural)
snickometer (alternative)

In cricket, there is the "third eye" to decide close run-out decisions, and also Channel 4 is introducing a technological innovation called Snickometer designed to end debates whether or not a batsman has actually made contact with the ball.

1999 July 7, L. Hibbert, “Decisions you can't argue with”, in Professional Engineering, volume 12, number 13, →ISSN, pages 26–27:

Alongside the snickometer moments there was the Saturday morning Roadshow, the Analyst, Jargonbusting, a sympathetic interview, an orginal feature, an e-mail question answered.

2002, Mark Nicholas, Jargonbusting: Mastering The Art of Cricket, Channel 4 Books, foreword of original by Simon Hughes, →ISBN, Foreword, page 6:

And we have the Snickometer to put beyond doubt whether the batsman touched the ball with his bat or gloves and not his ear or his arse.

2007, Robert MacGregor, I Can't Take Any More Crap!, Troubador Publishing, →ISBN, Umpiring, Cricket, Test Matches, Bad, page 237:

(cricket) a device that combines slow-motion video and a graphical representation of sound waves recorded from stump and pitch microphones to determine whether a small noise (a snick) occurred as the ball passed the bat and/or pad, and thus whether the batsman made contact with the ball.


yarborough

After the second Earl of Yarborough (b. 1809), who supposedly bet 1,000 to 1 that such a hand would not occur.

(card games) A hand, in bridge or whist, that has no card with a value greater than nine (and no aces), though in some circles it is no card above a ten.


reflexmate

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

(chess) A chess puzzle in which white, moving first, must force black to deliver checkmate within a specified number of moves.


cooncan

Tea Cake and Janie playing checkers; playing coon-can; playing Florida flip on the store porch all afternoon as if nobody else was there.

1937, Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Amistad, published 2013, page 110:

(card games) A card game originally from Mexico, similar to rummy where the object is to form sequences.


jump cut

jump cuts (plural)
jump-cut (alternative)
jumpcut (alternative)

“The advantage of a guy being his size and having quick feet, it’s unexpected,” said Marcel Shipp, the running backs coach. “Guys come in thinking he’s a big, bruising back. Then he’ll hit a jump cut on you and head down the sideline.”

2015 October 24, Ben Shpigel, “Chris Ivory, a Bulldozing Ballet Dancer, Keeps Defenders on Their Toes”, in The New York Times:

(American football) A sudden switch from running forward to running to the side.


stonewaller

(cricket) A particularly obstructive blocker.


play catch-up

play catch-up (third-person singular simple present plays catch-up, present participle playing catch-up, simple past and past participle played catch-up)

plays catch-up (present singular third-person)
playing catch-up (participle present)
played catch-up (participle past)
played catch-up (past)

"We're now having to play catch-up," says the Mayor. "What are we now, five years on from the original announcement? It's probably going to take us another six months to present a business case to government to allow us to make the platform improvements and make sure the knock-on effects to the wider network are taken into account because that has to be costed as well."

2020 January 2, Graeme Pickering, “Fuelling the changes on Teesside rails”, in Rail, page 59:

(also sports, games) In a losing scenario, to take risks in an attempt to regain the lead.


overtrump

overtrump (third-person singular simple present overtrumps, present participle overtrumping, simple past and past participle overtrumped)

overtrumps (present singular third-person)
overtrumping (participle present)
overtrumped (participle past)
overtrumped (past)

(card games) To play a higher trump card than the previous one in a trick.


checkback

True, you need some form of checkback, which is an artificial two-club or two-diamond rebid by the responder to ask for more information.

2007 May 10, Phillip Alder, “From a Nevada Tournament, Defense by the Textbook”, in New York Times:

(bridge) A play of a designated card as a prompt to one's partner to respond with a play indicating the kinds of card he/she holds.


overcaller

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

The no-trump overcaller completes the transfer, and his partner will bid again when strong.

2007 May 19, Phillip Alder, “The Cavendish Wasn’t the Only Game in Town”, in New York Times:


tiddlywink

Sense 1 (“unlicensed beerhouse or pawnshop”) and sense 2 (“alcoholic drink”) are possibly related to tiddly (“(noun) alcoholic beverage; (adjective) somewhat drunk”).


through ball

through balls (plural)
through-ball (alternative)

It was an omen of things to come as in the 56th minute the visitors took the lead after a mix-up between Skrtel and Sotirios Kyrgiakos allowed Ebanks-Blake's through-ball to squeeze between them.

2010 December 29, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0 - 1 Wolverhampton”, in BBC:

And a potential partnership with Bruno Fernandes, who has completed the most through balls in the Premier League this season (15), would be an excellent stylistic fit.

2021 February 4, Raj Chohan, “Erling Braut Haaland: Would Man City, Liverpool, Man Utd or Chelsea suit striker best?”, in BBC Sport:

(soccer) A forward pass played between opposition defenders.


offsuit

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

off-suit (alternative)
off suit (alternative)

He has jack-ten offsuit in the big blind

(card games, chiefly poker) Of two or more cards, not of the same suit.


double down

double down (third-person singular simple present doubles down, present participle doubling down or (nonstandard) double downing, simple past and past participle doubled down or (nonstandard) double downed)

doubles down (present singular third-person)
doubling down (participle present)
double downing (nonstandard participle present)
doubled down (participle past)
doubled down (past)
double downed (nonstandard participle past)
double downed (nonstandard past)
double-down (alternative)

He'd bet three thousand and double down to six thousand, all of it hanging on the turn of the next card.

1999, Frederick Barthelme, Steven Barthelme, Double Down: Reflections on Gambling and Loss, →ISBN, page 66:

(gambling, intransitive) To double one's wager, particularly, the name of a specific doubling bet allowed in blackjack.


junkballer

junkballers (plural)
junk baller (alternative)
junk-baller (alternative)

From the beginning, Clemens was a fireballer, Wells more of a junkballer.

2007 June 14, Lee Jenkins, “At 44, Wells Is the Anti-Clemens”, in New York Times:

(baseball) A pitcher that relies heavily on off-speed pitches.


QGD

Queen's Gambit Declined
Queen's Gambit Declined#English

(chess) Initialism of Queen's Gambit Declined.


defensive back

(American football, Canadian football) Collective term for the defensive players who are in position farthest from the ball at the start of a play and whose principal responsibility is to defend against passes. Includes cornerbacks and safeties in both codes, and defensive halfbacks in the Canadian game.


defensive halfback

en-noun

defensive halfback (plural defensive halfbacks)

(Canadian football) A defensive back whose primary jobs are to cover the slotback on passing plays and prevent running plays from going to the outside.


splatbook

From splat + book, from the tendency for all the books in the series to be named uniformly, with only the name of the group varying. See splat (“asterisk”), a symbol used as a wildcard in computing.

Speaking of redoing the splatbooks, soes^([sic]) anyone think there's a chance in hell that they're going to redo the werewolf tribebooks?

1999, Erika CircuitBreaker, “Splatbooks”, in alt.games.whitewolf (Usenet):

Even GURPS has put out splatbooks.

2000, Deirdre M. Brooks, “The 'NEW" Star Wars RPG”, in rec.games.frp.misc (Usenet):

2003, Stephenls, Devil-Tigers: Any Good??, alt.games.whitewolf
I own all the Vampire revised splatbooks and all the Mage Revised splatbooks that have been published.

(gaming) One of a series of books for a roleplaying game, oriented towards players, each of which covers a specific group with further options for player characters in that group.


pagat

Ultimately from Italian bagatto (“magician”).

(card games) The first trump card in a Tarock deck.


underpromotion

underpromotion (usually uncountable, plural underpromotions)

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

(chess) Promotion of a pawn to a piece other than a queen.


book up

en-verb

book up (third-person singular simple present books up, present participle booking up, simple past and past participle booked up)

books up (present singular third-person)
booking up (participle present)
booked up (participle past)
booked up (past)

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

There would be more extraordinary clock goings on in the big game of the day, Aronian-Firouzja, which began by giving a partial answer to the question of what Alireza Firouzja had been doing for the last five months. He’d been booking up on some old theory!

2022 May 8, Colin McGourty, “Superbet Classic 3: Aronian’s great escape, Deac beats Rapport”, in Chess24:

(chess, slang) To study opening lines in great detail in order to gain an advantage.


Closed Game

en-noun

Closed Game (countable and uncountable, plural Closed Games)

(uncountable, chess) A chess opening characterized by the moves 1.d4 d5, in which both White and Black move their queen's pawn to the fourth rank with their first move.

(countable, chess) Any of the openings which begin in this way. (Queen's Gambit, Stonewall Attack, etc.)


Madridista

Borrowed from Spanish madridista, from Madrid + -ista.

The deal to sign Martin Ødegaard full-time is also well on the way to becoming reality. Another Madridista, Marco Asensio, is also being touted as a potential target for Mikel Arteta and his sidekick Edu.

2021 August 19, Luke McLaughlin, “Football transfer rumours: Robert Lewandowski to exit Bayern Munich?”, in The Guardian:

(soccer) Someone who plays for Real Madrid CF, a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.

It is never only a game when Barça plays Real. Valencia’s Mestalla Stadium is nine decades old, but still it generates a remarkable sensation when 25,000 Catalans are at one end and 25,000 Madridistas fill the other.

2014 April 17, Rob Hughes, “Gloom Gets Darker for Barcelona”, in The New York Times:

(soccer) Someone who works for Real Madrid CF.


gluepot

gluepots (plural)
glue-pot (alternative)


notcher

From notch + -er. Cricket scorers originally kept score by making notches in wood.


base on balls

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-base on balls.wav

(baseball) An instance where the batter is allowed to go directly to first base without the possibility of being put out, due to the opposing pitcher delivering four balls.


catcher interference

catcher interference (plural catcher interferences)

(baseball) An instance of a hitter being awarded first bases, due to the catcher touching the batter's bat during his or her time at bat.


runathon

(informal, cricket) A match in which a large number of runs are scored


grandfather's clock

grandfather's clock (countable and uncountable, plural grandfather's clocks)

(uncountable, card games) A form of patience in which cards are laid out in an arrangement resembling a clock face.


runscorer

South Africa's leading runscorer Jacques Kallis, who captained the side for one Test against Australia in Johannesburg three years ago, will be skipper in Cape Town.

2009 March 13, AAP, “Aussies relax amid Proteas' captain chaos”, in Herald Sun:


LUFC

Leeds United Football Club
w:Leeds United F.C.

(soccer) Initialism of Leeds United Football Club.


rebluff

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

(gambling, rare) Act of responding to a bluff with another bluff.


OLL

(Rubik's Cube) Initialism of orientation of the last layer: placing all the cubies of the last layer so that the last-layer colour of each cubie is facing the last layer.


tip over

Bolton then went even closer when Elmander's cross was met by a bullet header from Holden, which forced a wonderful tip over from Cech before Drogba then cleared the resulting corner off the line.

2010 December 29, Chris Whyatt, “Chelsea 1 - 0 Bolton”, in BBC:

(soccer) An action where the goalkeeper deflects the ball over the crossbar.


tee up

en-verb

tee up (third-person singular simple present tees up, present participle teeing up, simple past and past participle teed up)

tees up (present singular third-person)
teeing up (participle present)
teed up (participle past)
teed up (past)

This time the defender was teed up by Andrew Johnson's short free-kick on the edge of the box and Baird hammered his low drive beyond Begovic's outstretched left arm and into the bottom corner, doubling his goal tally for the season and stunning the home crowd.

2010 December 28, Marc Vesty, “Stoke 0 - 2 Fulham”, in BBC:

(soccer) To pass the ball to someone, facilitating a shot.

(American football) To place the ball on a tee, ready for kickoff.

(basketball) To give a coach or player a technical foul.


side-netting

But Gyan missed the best openings, shooting into the side-netting after showing good strength when chasing a long pass, and then hopelessly miskicking from six yards out.

2010 December 28, Owen Phillips, “Sunderland 0 - 2 Blackpool”, in BBC:

(soccer) The net at either side of the goal, extending from the touchline to a few yards behind it.

petit filet

in soccer, the net at either side of the goal


short corner

Pedersen took a short corner and El-Hadji Diouf was given time to send in a cross for Mame Diouf to stoop and head home from close range.

2010 December 28, Kevin Darlin, “West Brom 1 - 3 Blackburn”, in BBC:

(soccer) A short pass from a corner (the set piece).


straight red card

en-noun

straight red card (plural straight red cards)

A moment of madness from double goalscorer Kalinic put Rovers' fate back in the balance when the Croat caught Scharner with a late, dangerous lunge and was shown a straight red card by referee Phil Dowd.

2010 December 28, Kevin Darling, “West Brom 1 - 3 Blackburn”, in BBC:

(soccer) A red card, signifying a player's instant dismissal from the game for a single major foul or misconduct, distinct from and graver than a second yellow card, which a player may receive for several minor fouls.


shoestring tackle

shoestring tackle (plural shoestring tackles)

(American football) A tackle made about the feet or ankles.


superflip

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

Many people have worked on God's algorithm for the Rubik's Cube. For a while it was guessed that the superflip position is the position which is as far from ‘start’ (the solved position) as possible.

2008, David Joyner, Adventures in group theory: Rubik's Cube, Merlin's Machine & other mathematical toys, →ISBN, page 149:

(Rubik's Cube) The position on a Rubik's cube that has every corner cubie positioned and oriented correctly and every edge cubie positioned correctly but oriented wrong. That is to say, all the edges are flipped around.


God's number

Although invented in 1974, the number of moves required to solve any state of Rubik's Cube (the so-called God's number) is yet to be determined after 30 years.

2010, Cecilia di Chio et al., Applications of Evolutionary Computation, Part 1, →ISBN, page 80:

(combination puzzles, chiefly Rubik's Cube) The maximum number of moves needed to solve a puzzle using God's algorithm.


Korf's algorithm

(Rubik's Cube) An algorithm for solving the Rubik's Cube by iterative deepening.


Kociemba's algorithm

Thistlethwaite's algorithm
Thistlethwaite's algorithm

(Rubik's Cube) An algorithm for solving the Rubik's Cube, an improvement on Thistlethwaite's algorithm.


Thistlethwaite's algorithm

After its developer Morwen Thistlethwaite.

(Rubik's Cube) An algorithm for solving the Rubik's Cube by dividing the possible cube positions into groups.


T perm

The wrong pieces form a T. "Perm" means permutation.

(Rubik's Cube) A PLL case (i.e. a case where the cubies of the last layer all have the last-side colour facing the last side) where a pair of opposite edge cubies and a pair of corner cubies that lie on either side of one of the wrong edges both need to be swapped.


(dice games) A die roll used for example in some role-playing games and wargames to generate a random number between 1 and 100. The most common method is to roll 2 differently colored d10s, where each color has been designated to represent one of the two digits. (Rolls of 10 are treated as the digit 0. Double-0 can be treated as zero or 100, depending on the context.)


PAT

PAT (countable and uncountable, plural PATs)

(American football) Initialism of point after touchdown (“extra point”).


M and M boys

(baseball) Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, who competed to break Babe Ruth's home-run record while on the same team.


Fridrich method

(Rubik's Cube) A method of solving the Rubik's Cube in which one starts with a cross, then finishes the F2L, then does OLL and PLL.


scholar's mate

First named and described in The Royall Game of Chesse-Play, a 1656 text by the English author Francis Beale.

(chess) The checkmate which occurs shortly after the opening, when the white queen checkmates by taking the black pawn on f7 (or the black queen taking the white pawn on f2), protected by a bishop on c4 (or c5).

ضَرْبَة الرَاعِي

checkmate which occurs after the moves 1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Qxf7#

സ്കോളർസ് മേറ്റ്

skōḷaṟsŭ mēṟṟŭ


starting berth

Pardew made five changes to the side that thrashed West Ham 5-0 on Wednesday - with players such as James Perch and Alan Smith given the chance to underline their case for a regular starting berth.

2011 January 8, Paul Fletcher, “Stevenage 3 - 1 Newcastle”, in BBC:

(soccer) An appearance in a match from the kick-off.


toe-poke

en-verb

toe-poke (third-person singular simple present toe-pokes, present participle toe-poking, simple past and past participle toe-poked)

toe-pokes (present singular third-person)
toe-poking (participle present)
toe-poked (participle past)
toe-poked (past)
toepoke (alternative)
toe poke (alternative)

Malouda burst through the left side of the defence for the first time and crossed for Kalou, who toe-poked towards goal only for Hennessey's outstretched leg to deny him.

2011 January 5, Mark Ashenden, “Wolverhampton 1 - 0 Chelsea”, in BBC:

(soccer) To kick (the ball) with the toe end of the boot.

tåpaja

To kick the ball with the toe end of the boot


toe-poke

toe-pokes (plural)
toepoke (alternative)
toe poke (alternative)

(soccer) A kick to a football with the toe end of the boot.


out ball

out balls (plural)
out-ball (alternative)

With Carlos Tevez chasing down every lost cause like his life depended on it, City always had an out ball but Arsenal had such a monopoly on possession that they barely had to give thought even to the Argentine.

2011 January 5, Jonathan Stevenson, “Arsenal 0 - 0 Man City”, in BBC:

(soccer) A chance to clear the ball to an attacking teammate, or such an attacker; a target man.


overhead kick

United's initial response was bright, with Young's corner drifting untouched across the six-yard area and Van Persie just unable to keep an overhead kick down.

2013 September 1, Phil McNulty, BBC Sport:

(soccer) A kick where the ball travels over the player's head.


seal dribble

Seals (the animals, not the stamp) can be trained to balance a ball on their nose.

(neologism, soccer) In soccer, a move where the player bounces the ball on their head while running at the opponent.


far post

United looked on course to end the season empty-handed as well as missing out on Champions League football when substitute Jason Puncheon's powerful far-post finish put Palace ahead with 12 minutes left.

2016 May 22, Phil McNulty, “Crystal Palace 1-2 Manchester United”, in BBC:

(soccer, idiomatic) The goalpost furthest from where a cross is made.


near post

This was a small element of a remarkably assured performance that started with a crucial early save from Christian Pulisic and also saw him deny Chelsea a last-gasp win with a near-post block from Romelu Lukaku in the closing seconds of extra time.

2022 February 27, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 0-0 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport:

(soccer, idiomatic) The goalpost nearest from which a cross is made.


on the front foot

(cricket, of a batsman) Having the weight on the front foot in order to play an attacking stroke


route one football

Linked by some sources to the 1966-1972 BBC quiz show Quiz Ball, in which players could choose one of several "routes" of football-related questions to reach the goal. "Route 1" was the most direct, where players only needed to answer one question to get directly to the goal.

It was route one football from Wigan with Rodallega latching onto Al Habsi's long clearance after it was misjudged by Aaron Hughes.

2011 January 15, Nabil Hassan, “Wigan 1 - 1 Fulham”, in BBC:

(soccer) A tactic involving kicking the ball from defence high and far straight towards the attackers.


bodyliner

(cricket) A bowler who uses bodyline tactics.


hold-up play

Arsenal must have been pleased that Leeds' leading scorer Luciano Becchio was ruled out with a back injury and the hosts missed his hold-up play and threat for long periods as Wenger's side produced wave after wave of attack.

2011 January 19, Jonathan Stevenson, “Leeds 1 - 3 Arsenal”, in BBC:

(soccer, idiomatic) A play where an attacker retains possession of the ball, while the teammates can move up the field.


slowball

(baseball) A pitch that is not a fastball or curveball; often a change-up.


slowball

slowball (third-person singular simple present slowballs, present participle slowballing, simple past and past participle slowballed)

slowballs (present singular third-person)
slowballing (participle present)
slowballed (participle past)
slowballed (past)


wave off

wave off (third-person singular simple present waves off, present participle waving off, simple past and past participle waved off)

waves off (present singular third-person)
waving off (participle present)
waved off (participle past)
waved off (past)

(basketball) Of a referee, to disallow a field goal with the aforementioned hand gesture.


across the line

(cricket) Describing the action of a batsman in moving the bat in a direction lateral to that of the incoming ball


snap shot

But the League One side's early endeavours brought only two well-struck but off-target free-kicks and a snap shot from Rickie Lambert.

2011 January 29, Ian Hughes, “Southampton 1 - 2 Man Utd”, in BBC:

(soccer) A hard shot without much planning.


Gulls

As a seaside town, Torquay has many seagulls.

Gulls keeper Scott Bevan kept his side in the game by saving a Tubbs penalty after Chris Zebroski was sent off.

2011 January 29, Chris Bevan, “Torquay 0 - 1 Crawley Town”, in BBC:

(soccer, informal) Torquay United F. C., a football club from Torquay, England.


Accy

(UK, soccer, slang) The football team Accrington Stanley F.C..


Bee

(soccer) someone connected with Barnet Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Bantam

The Bantams bridged the gap between the bottom division of English league football and the Premier League to secure a place at Wembley, despite a 2-1 second-leg defeat.

2013 January 22, Phil McNulty, “Aston Villa 2-1 Bradford (3-4)”, in BBC:

(soccer) Someone connected with Bradford City A.F.C, as a fan, player, coach etc.


air-shot

air-shots (plural)
air shot (alternative)

A comical Bendtner air-shot then brought ironic cheers from the 5,000 Huddersfield fans massed behind the Clock End goal, before the Dane was involved in a fortuitous Gunners' opening goal.

2011 January 30, Kevin Darling, “Arsenal 2 - 1 Huddersfield”, in BBC:

(sports, soccer, golf, snooker etc.) A failed attempt to strike the ball.


long throw

In the fifth minute he could have added to an impressive record of 11 goals in 10 FA Cup ties for parent club Aston Villa but his flicked header from Rory Delap's long throw was pushed past the post by Marcus Hahnemann.

2011 January 30, “Wolverhampton 0 - 1 Stoke”, in BBC:

(soccer) A long throw-in into the goal area.


throw-out

(soccer) An overarm throw of the ball from a goalkeeper.

servei de porteria

(soccer) an overarm throw of the ball from a goalkeeper

(baseball) A put-out caused by a throw to a base of a fielded ground ball.


slide-tackle

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

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

(soccer) To tackle another player by sliding on the ground feet-first.


crossfield

He was in the mood and he decorated the first half with some wonderful moments. How about the side-on volleyed crossfield pass with the outside of his right boot? Or the shoulder drop, the surge upfield, the riding of a challenge and then another thrilling run.

2024 June 16, David Hytner, “Jude Bellingham gives England winning start but Serbia make Southgate sweat”, in Guardian:

(soccer) Passed from one side of the pitch to the other.


Posh

Peterbough United have been playing at Lincoln, in something of a local derby. EMR has put on a six-car Class 158 as an additional train, to take 'Posh' fans home (Posh is the team's nickname, by the way).

2024 April 17, “Rural railways: do they deliver?”, in RAIL, number 1007, page 58:

(soccer, slang) Peterborough United F.C., a football club from Peterborough, England.


countergambit

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

(chess) A defence involving the use of the black-piece gambit in response to the white-piece gambit.


grubber kick

(rugby) An attacking short-distance kick in behind the defence in which the ball is bounced along the ground, using the uneven bounce of the ball to make it difficult for the defence to retrieve.


seven-up

(card games) A card game similar to all fours, won by scoring seven points.


slip in

slip in (third-person singular simple present slips in, present participle slipping in, simple past and past participle slipped in)

slips in (present singular third-person)
slipping in (participle present)
slipped in (participle past)
slipped in (past)

A minute into the second half, Hazard blasted the second goal right over Gordon's head and into his net. Soon after, Charlie Mulgrew's aimless ball out of defence fell to Dembele, who gave it to Hazard. The attacker slipped in Batshuayi in for the third.

2018 September 7, Tom English, “Scotland 0-4 Belgium”, in BBC Sport:

(soccer, transitive) To play a subtle pass into someone in a goalscoring position.


whip in

whip in (third-person singular simple present whips in, present participle whipping in, simple past and past participle whipped in)

whips in (present singular third-person)
whipping in (participle present)
whipped in (participle past)
whipped in (past)

He whipped in a dangerous cross, and Faulkner headed into the net.

(soccer, transitive) To make a quick pass into the goalmouth.


flick-on

Rovers forward Roque Santa Cruz headed against the post after a flick-on by towering defender Chris Samba.

2011 February 12, Nabil Hassan, “Blackburn 0 - 0 Newcastle”, in BBC:

(soccer) A quick headed touch to pass to another player.


blood substitution

en-noun

blood substitution (plural blood substitutions)

(rugby) A temporary substitution for a visibly-bleeding player who must leave the field of play for first-aid treatment.


box-to-box midfielder

box-to-box midfielder (plural box-to-box midfielders)

(soccer) a central midfielder who plays both defensively and attackingly, who runs a lot up and down the pitch.

volante mixto

a central midfielder who both defends and attacks


ball-playing

Irish debutant Conor Henderson - another ball-playing midfielder - probed for a gap through the back-line and the 19-year-old's deflected pass was pounced on by Tomas Rosicky, who sped to the byeline to clip a square ball through the legs of Charlie Daniels across the box.

2011 March 2, Chris Whyatt, “Arsenal 5 - 0 Leyton Orient”, in BBC:

And despite his terrific form, it was always going to be Sterling making way especially against a ball-playing team away from home when we'd have to absorb a lot of pressure.

2014, Neil Collins, Make Us Dream: A Fan's View of the 2013/14 Season, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 290:

Barcelona have recognised that a ball-playing midfielder is a more effective centre-half than a John Terry-style centre-half given they rarely encounter an attacking threat that warrants a traditional back four.

2014, anonymous author, The Secret Footballer's Guide to the Modern Game: Tips and Tactics from the Ultimate Insider, Faber & Faber, →ISBN:

(soccer) Focused on attacking and progressing down the field.


byeline

Diouf rounded Zaluska near the byeline and crossed but Daniel Majstorovic headed away and Celtic eventually mopped up the danger.

2011 March 2, Andy Campbell, “Celtic 1 - 0 Rangers”, in BBC:

(soccer) Alternative spelling of byline.


misbid

en-verb

misbid (third-person singular simple present misbids, present participle misbidding, simple past misbid or misbad or misbade, past participle misbidden)

misbids (present singular third-person)
misbidding (participle present)
misbid (past)
misbad (past)
misbade (past)
misbidden (participle past)

From the fusion of Middle English misbidden (to mistreat; equivalent to mis- + bid) and Middle English misbeden (“to mistreat; abuse; outrage; offend; insult”), from Old English misbēodan (“to ill-use, injure, do wrong to, announce wrongly”), equivalent to mis- + bid (“to offer, declare”).

inh

After apologizing profusely for his errors on the first two hands, he misbid the last hand and they ended up in fifth place.

2004, Jim Priebe, Takeout Double: A Bridge Mystery:

(ambitransitive, card games) To bid incorrectly; bid higher or lower than actual.


nothing ball

If he cannot throw a fast ball, he may be able to get by on a nothing ball (a term coined for Wes Ferrell's looping delivery, which, though it doesn't curve, is hard to hit).

1941 Franklin P. Huddle "Baseball Jargon" (April 1943) American Speech Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 103-111

two of the leading pitchers in the major leagues use the "nothing ball", a term used derisively by batters to describe change of pace deliveries.

1951 August, Paul Horowitz, “They've Got Plenty of Nothing”, in Baseball Digest, pages 21–22:

(baseball) a pitch which has neither much speed nor much spin


choke up

en-verb

choke up (third-person singular simple present chokes up, present participle choking up, simple past and past participle choked up)

chokes up (present singular third-person)
choking up (participle present)
choked up (participle past)
choked up (past)

(baseball, intransitive) To hold the bat higher (farther from the knob) than is normal.


wing-play

wing play (alternative)
wingplay (alternative)

Stoke deserved their advantage and they looked to build on their lead with Etherington continuing his busy wing-play down the opposite flank.

2011 March 13, Chris Bevan, “Stoke 2 - 1 West Ham”, in BBC:

(soccer) The art of playing as a winger.


waiting move

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

(chess) A move that is not tactical except in that it puts the burden to move on the opposing player.


Dutch book

(gambling) A set of trades or bets such that, regardless of the outcome of events, one party strictly profits and another strictly loses.


ugly finder

ugly finders (plural)
ugly-finder (alternative)

I tried to duck under the ball, but it was definitely an ugly finder.

1989 August 12, Mitch Williams, quotee, “There's never a dull moment with the Cubs' 'Wild Thing'”, in Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

"That ball was an ugly-finder," [Rob] Dibble said. "But I consider that good luck. No broken nose, no stitches and no black eye."

1996 March 1, Barry Rozner, quoting Rob Dibble, “Dibble survives an ugly scare”, in Daily Herald, page 5:

"The unique thing about this team though is that of the eight position players - all are either new or are playing a different position," he [Bill Matthews] said. "With something like that, you just hope the ball doesn't become an ugly-finder."

2003 February 9, Rodney Page, quoting Bill Matthews, “Tritons count on the pitching staff to deliver”, in St. Petersburg Times, page 4:

Everybody was trying to throw the ugly-finder at him, and we still couldn't find him.

2010, Jason Turbow with Michael Duca, quoting Ed Whitson, The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: the Unwritten Rules of America's Pastime, Random House, Inc., →ISBN, page 134:

(baseball, colloquial) A hard batted or thrown ball which hits or nearly hits someone, especially a line drive foul ball hit into a dugout.


submarine pitch

en-noun

submarine pitch (plural submarine pitches)

(baseball) A pitch thrown with an underarm-to-sidearm motion.


bellywark

bellywark (countable and uncountable, plural bellywarks)

bellywarks (plural)
belly-wark (alternative)
bellywaak (alternative)
belly-waak (alternative)
bellywahk (alternative)
belly-wahk (alternative)
bellywarch (alternative)
belly-warch (alternative)
bally-warche (alternative)
bellywartch (alternative)
bally-wartch (alternative)
belly-wartch (alternative)
bellywerch (alternative)
belly-werch (alternative)
bellywork (alternative)
belly-work (alternative)

(Yorkshire, games) A shot in marbles made with the taw held against the belly.


SPL

And the moment it thumped into the net, Celtic’s march back to the top of the SPL pile also seemed unstoppable.

2011 December 29, Keith Jackson, “SPL: Celtic 1 Rangers 0”, in Daily Record:

Scottish Premier League
w:Scottish Premier League

(soccer) Initialism of Scottish Premier League.


presnap

(American football) Before the snap (passing of the football from the center to a back).


postsnap

(American football) After the snap (passing of the football from the center to a back).


intertrack

Among them was Teleview Racing Patrol, which he built into the leading source of closed-circuit broadcasts of horse racing to off-track betting and intertrack wagering sites in the country.

2007 August 13, Edward Wyatt, “Merv Griffin, Television Innovator, Dies at 82”, in New York Times:

(gambling, of a race) Having contenders entered by different racecourses.


tryless

It was a record fourth time England had posted a tryless victory in a World Cup game.

2007 October 7, The Associated Press, “England Upends Australia”, in New York Times:

Scotland, so disappointing in defeat to Argentina a week ago, tryless against the comparative minnows of Georgia, carried all the menace and mobility.

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


linescore

linescores (plural)
line score (alternative)

It did not count against the Rockies on their linescore, but it did on the scoreboard.

2007 October 26, Ben Shpigel, “In One Mundane Moment, the Rockies Make a Game-Changing Mistake”, in New York Times:

(baseball) A two-line chart that reports each team's run totals by inning, and total runs, total hits, and total errors.


partscore

partscores (plural)
part-score (alternative)

At the other tables, Lady Billingham made five diamonds exactly, but both Commons pairs cautiously stopped in partscores.

2007 November 3, Phillip Alder, “The Lords Take the Lead in a Long-Running Battle”, in New York Times:

(bridge) A trick score less than 100, obtained by making a contract.


flyhawk

Two flyhawks like Hunter and Matthews would be running into each other all the time, probably leaping against the wall simultaneously.

2007 November 27, Murray Chass, “Stockpiling Center Fielders, but at What Cost?”, in New York Times:

(baseball, informal) A skilled outfielder.


dust off a batter

en-verb

dust off a batter (third-person singular simple present dusts off a batter, present participle dusting off a batter, simple past and past participle dusted off a batter)

dusts off a batter (present singular third-person)
dusting off a batter (participle present)
dusted off a batter (participle past)
dusted off a batter (past)

From the concept that a pitch thrown very close to a batter will remove some dust or dirt from the batter's uniform either by brushing against it or causing a breeze very close to it, or alternatively by the batter jumping away from the pitch to avoid being hit.

That pitcher doesn't like the hitters too close to the plate so every once in a while he'll dust off a batter.

He never attempted to dust off a batter; and his control was so great that no hitter was ever afraid to stand right up to the plate and look Matty's fast ball right in the eye.

1947, Robert Smith, Baseball: a historical narrative of the game, the men who have played it, and its place in American life, page 206:

(idiomatic, baseball) for a pitcher to throw a pitch at or near the batter, typically to frighten the batter or to have him stand farther away from home plate.


tile tracking

(Scrabble) The act of keeping track of which letters have been played, usually by crossing them off a printed list.


pay table

(gambling) A table of values determining the payouts for various outcomes at the game.


touch football

(American football) A variant of American football in which players are touched as opposed to tackled.


busher

He was talking about me all the time that day in Boston, standing with the bat boy, making cracks. That's all right but when he called me a busher in front of the whole Yank team and then challenged me, I had to fight.

(US, baseball, slang) A major league baseball player who has recently come from a small league.


Prem

Palace are back in the Prem - but for how long?

1997, Peterjon Cresswell, Simon Evans, Dan Goldstein, European football: a fans' handbook:

Linked us, now she don't wanna link them man again / Your ex plays in the Prem but you never see him taking a pen

2016 February 14, Joseph Adenuga, Darren Dixon, Tariq Devega, “Ladies Hit Squad” (track 6), in Konnichiwa, performed by Skepta ft. D Double E and ASAP Nast, Boy Better Know:


ballhandler

ballhandlers (plural)
ball handler (alternative)

“Like every kid her age, she has to become a much better ballhandler and a better defender,” he said.

2008 February 26, Frank Litsky, “In Freshman Season, Moore Shows UConn What May Come”, in New York Times:


superaccept

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

South’s jump to three spades, a superaccept, announced four-card spade support, a maximum and (typically) a doubleton somewhere.

2008 March 3, Phillip Alder, “In Las Vegas, It’s All About the Odds”, in New York Times:

(bridge) A strongly encouraging response to a transfer.


CTF

en-noun

CTF (countable and uncountable, plural CTFs)

capture the flag
capture the flag#English

(uncountable, games) Initialism of capture the flag.


century break

(snooker) A consecutive score of 100 or more points in one visit to the table in a frame of snooker.


zeitnot

zeitnot (usually uncountable, plural zeitnots)

Unadapted borrowing from German Zeitnot (literally “need of time”)

ubor

Unfortunately I didn't work it out in my zeitnot.

2010 August 1, Matan Prilleltensky, “Learning From Your Losses”, in U.S. Chess Federation, retrieved 2012-02-11:

(chess) time trouble, time pressure, a situation where a player has little time to complete the required moves


number three

His transfer, controversial for 18 months now, may also rank as the most tetchy ever to have involved a mere left-back. He may claim the highest wage in the history of the number three...

2006 August 13, Ian Hawkey, “The £20m question”, in The Sunday Times:

With his quality, I wouldn’t want him sitting here being number three or number two, he’s a good enough goalkeeper to go and play in the Championship.

2022 May 6, Alex Dicken, quoting Tony Roberts, “Wolves respond to Birmingham City interest in Matija Sarkic transfer”, in Birmingham Live:

(soccer) A player who is the backup to the two primary goalkeepers - number one and number two.


number four

Burmese: နံပါတ်ဖိုး (nampathpui:)


number six

The number six adds additional defensive cover, balance, screening and protection just ahead of the central defence.

2022 February 12, “Number six position in football”, in Premier League:

defensive midfielder
defensive midfielder


number ten

attacking midfielder
attacking midfielder

(soccer) The main offensive playmaker in a team, usually an attacking midfielder.


c&b

Caught and bowled
caught and bowled#English

(cricket, on a scorecard) Initialism of Caught and bowled.


trappy

en-adj

trappy (comparative trappier, superlative trappiest)

trappier (comparative)
trappiest (superlative)

(chess) Of an opening, having many traps that can be played against opponents unfamiliar with the lines.


roll in

en-verb

roll in (third-person singular simple present rolls in, present participle rolling in, simple past and past participle rolled in)

rolls in (present singular third-person)
rolling in (participle present)
rolled in (participle past)
rolled in (past)

He rolled the red in dead weight, and now he's nicely on the blue.

(snooker, transitive) To pot with minimal force.


sag off

sag off (third-person singular simple present sags off, present participle sagging off, simple past and past participle sagged off)

sags off (present singular third-person)
sagging off (participle present)
sagged off (participle past)
sagged off (past)

The defender playing the man with the ball meets him at the perimeter. The other five defenders will "sag off"their men at varying distances, which are determined by the location of the offensive players. The defender can sag only to the point where he can effectively guard his man if he were to receive the ball.

1978, Robert Scott, Lacrosse: Technique and Tradition, →ISBN, page 101:

Instead, the on-ball defender (in zone or man) will sag off toward the basket, cutting off passing lanes and adding more help to the interior.

2002, Clay Kallam, Girls' Basketball: Building a Winning Program, page 51:

If Daniel is out of shooting range when he gives up his dribble, consider having the defender sag off the ball toward the basket and anticipate the next pass. (Note that sagging off is recommended only for advanced players with good judgement).

2009, Fran Dunphy, Lawrence Hsieh, The Baffled Parent's Guide to Great Basketball Plays, page 89:

When you are on the weak side, sag off your opponent and form an imaginary flat triangle between you, your opponent, and the ball.

2012, Hal Wissel, Basketball-3rd Edition: Steps to Success, →ISBN, page 321:

(basketball, lacrosse) To back off from an opponent against whom one is defending.


undertrump

undertrump (third-person singular simple present undertrumps, present participle undertrumping, simple past and past participle undertrumped)

undertrumps (present singular third-person)
undertrumping (participle present)
undertrumped (participle past)
undertrumped (past)

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

(card games) To play a lower trump card than the previous one in a trick.


nineholes

Nine-holes on the heath

1612, Michael Drayton, “The Fourteenth Song”, in [John Selden], editor, Poly-Olbion. Or A Chorographicall Description of Tracts, Riuers, Mountaines, Forests, and Other Parts of this Renowned Isle of Great Britaine, […], London: […] [Humphrey Lownes] for M[athew] Lownes; I[ohn] Browne; I[ohn] Helme; I[ohn] Busbie, →OCLC, page 227:

(games, historical) A game in which each player bowls a ball towards nine holes in a board or the ground, scoring points according to which hole the ball enters.


sac bunt

(colloquial, baseball) A sacrifice bunt.


DRS

Decision Review System
w:Umpire Decision Review System

(cricket) Initialism of Decision Review System.


UDRS

Umpire Decision Review System
w:Umpire Decision Review System

(cricket) Initialism of Umpire Decision Review System.


Trent Bridge

(cricket) A cricket ground in a suburb of Nottingham, England


dope sheet

dope sheets (plural)
dopesheet (alternative)
dope-sheet (alternative)

The Bruins, seeking their third straight NCAA title, are picked on The Times dope sheet with 59 points.

1973 June 7, Harely Tinkham, “Trojan Stock Soars as Bruins Come Up Hobbling for NCAA”, in Los Angeles Times, page P1:

Also, he probably attends harness races, for he once accidentally left a dope sheet behind.

2002, Walt McConville, Trabler Travel Tales, →ISBN, page 83:

(idiomatic, gambling) A publication, updated very frequently and used by people who make horse racing wagers, which summarizes information about the horses running in specific races; a publication which provides background information and/or predictions used by people wagering on any sort of competition.


masterpoint

He also captured numerous regional and sectional titles, accumulating 18,202.10 masterpoints.

2009 February 2, Phillip Alder, “A Teacher’s Final Lesson”, in New York Times:

(bridge) One of the points awarded by various bridge organisations for success in tournaments.


MCC

Marylebone Cricket Club
w:Marylebone Cricket Club

(cricket) Initialism of Marylebone Cricket Club (the former governing body of cricket).


square ball

(soccer) A pass played square (not forward or backward, i.e. sideways)


end line

(sports, American football, hurling, Gaelic football) In various goal-based sports, the boundary line, running across the goal.

hurling; Gaelic football; hurling; Gaelic football

(basketball) out of bounds line under the basket


overdribble

overdribble (third-person singular simple present overdribbles, present participle overdribbling, simple past and past participle overdribbled)

overdribbles (present singular third-person)
overdribbling (participle present)
overdribbled (participle past)
overdribbled (past)

The series would end with Magic overdribbling the Lakers into a Game 7 defeat in Boston, where Bird’s triumph over Johnson was illuminated like a darkened Garden full of victory cigars.

2009 March 24, Harvey Araton, “For Duke Star, Family Lore in Boston”, in New York Times:

(basketball) To dribble the ball excessively.


fullcourt

Missouri does not employ fullcourt pressure all the time, but it uses varying defensive schemes to remain unpredictable.

2009 March 26, Thayer Evans, “Missouri Thrives on Running Opponents Ragged”, in New York Times:

(basketball) Of or pertaining to the entire basketball court.


short stuff

(cricket) Deliveries that bounce relatively far from the batsman or batswoman.


put over

put over (third-person singular simple present puts over, present participle putting over, simple past and past participle put over)

puts over (present singular third-person)
putting over (participle present)
put over (participle past)
put over (past)

The first was the product of a destructive hard line down the middle by Manu Tuilagi, which sucked in the Australian defence and stretched the cover further out, allowing Farrell and Curry to put May over in the left corner.

2019 October 19, Robert Kitson, “England into World Cup semi-finals after bruising victory over Australia”, in The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media:

(rugby) To make a decisive pass to a teammate so they can score a try.


speedballer

The movie was named “Bull Durham,” with Tim Robbins as the speedballer who was all over the place.

2009 July 19, George Vecsey, “A Hall of Fame for a Legendary Fastball Pitcher”, in New York Times:


autoplay

(gambling) A slot machine feature that automatically performs a number of spins at the same bet amount.


centerfielder

Mets centerfielder Carlos Beltran has been out since June 22 with a bone bruise on his right knee.

2009 July 30, Joe Lapointe, “A Personal Twin Bill for Mets’ Castillo”, in New York Times:

(baseball) A player in the centerfield position.


underpromote

underpromote (third-person singular simple present underpromotes, present participle underpromoting, simple past and past participle underpromoted)

underpromotes (present singular third-person)
underpromoting (participle present)
underpromoted (participle past)
underpromoted (past)

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

(chess, transitive) To promote (a pawn that has crossed the board) to a less powerful piece than a queen, which is sometimes strategically useful.


misdefend

misdefend (third-person singular simple present misdefends, present participle misdefending, simple past and past participle misdefended)

misdefends (present singular third-person)
misdefending (participle present)
misdefended (participle past)
misdefended (past)

After a flat board, Wbridge5 misdefended to allow a second overtrick in three no-trump.

2009 September 26, Phillip Alder, “Jack Gets Bragging Rights in Computer Battle”, in New York Times:

(transitive, chiefly bridge) To defend incorrectly.


selfmate

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

(chess) A chess problem in which the white player, moving first, must force the black player to deliver checkmate within a specified number of moves.


return pass

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

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

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


PNP

en-noun

PNP (countable and uncountable, plural PNPs)


half-century

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

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

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


long corner

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


kicking boots

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

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

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

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

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

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

(chiefly rugby, idiomatic) Ability to kick well.


late tackle

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

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

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

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

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


lay-up

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

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


open-side

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

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

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

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


knock on

en-verb

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

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

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

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

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


reaction save

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

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

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


strikeforce

strikeforces (plural)
strike force (alternative)

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

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

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


bring the lumber

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

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

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

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

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


fielding circle

en-noun

fielding circle (plural fielding circles)

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


foul pole

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


tap and go

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

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

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


holding midfielder

holding midfielder (plural holding midfielders)

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

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


cross-shot

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

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

This time there was an English element as Ainsley Maitland-Niles let fly with cross-shot that fizzed to Nicolas Tagliafico at the far post.

2025 April 17, Simon Stone, “Manchester United 5-4 Olympique Lyonnais”, in BBC Sport:

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


chip shot

chip shots (plural)
chip-shot (alternative)
chipshot (alternative)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[I]n the Canadian curling championship . . . Florian scored with last rock on the first end and picked up another on the second when Ernie came up too fast on a chip shot and missed by a foot.

1962 March 8, Tom Melville, “Big Win for Saskatchewan”, in Leader Post, Canada, retrieved 2011-10-17, page 26:

(curling) A takeout shot aimed at hitting a rock at an angle.


stand-off

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

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


tap-tackle

tap-tackles (plural)
tap tackle (alternative)

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


tap-tackle

en-verb

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

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

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

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

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


outcourt

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


outcourt

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

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

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

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

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

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

2018, Ace Banking And Static Awareness, page 273:

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


outcourt

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

1946, Athletic Journal - Volume 27, page 22:

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

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


scuffball

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


side netting

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

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

(soccer) Alternative form of side-netting.


skittle out

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

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

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


outground

(cricket) Alternative spelling of out ground.


overheal

overheal (third-person singular simple present overheals, present participle overhealing, simple past and past participle overhealed)

overheals (present singular third-person)
overhealing (participle present)
overhealed (participle past)
overhealed (past)

(transitive, gaming) To heal (a character) beyond the usual maximum level of health.


power hour

(games) A drinking game in which players are challenged to drink a specified large number of shots of alcoholic drink within one hour.


find the net

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

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

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

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


mournival

mournivals (plural)
murnival (alternative)

Perhaps from French mornifle (“a card game”).

Before George, there's not enough to rig out a Mournival of VVhores: they'l think me grown a meer Curmudgeon. Mercy on me, how will this glorious Trade be carri'd on, with ſuch a miſerable Stock!

1677 (date written), John Dryden, The Kind Keeper; or, Mr. Limberham: A Comedy: […], London: […] R[ichard] Bentley, and M[ary] Magnes, […], published 1680, →OCLC, Act IV, scene i, page 37:

(card games, obsolete) In the game of gleek, and other card games, a set of four cards of the same face value.


safety call

(billiards) A type of called shot where a shooting player does not have to continue their turn after pocketing one or more of their balls.


hand bridge

(billiards) a player's front hand formed to position their cue while making a shot


handcuff artist

en-noun

handcuff artist (plural handcuff artists)

(gambling, slang) A person who only bets when they are sure of a victory.


one-eyed jack

The game is seven card stud. After the queen, one-eyed jacks and low card in the hole are wild.

1989 June 26, “The Emissary” (2:05), in Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 2, episode 20, spoken by Data (Brent Spiner):

(card games, slang) Either the jack of spades or jack of hearts, on which the jack is commonly depicted in profile.


man with the ax

So called because, while the other three king cards are commonly depicted with swords, the king of diamonds is depicted with an ax.

The game is seven card high/low with a buy on the last card. And just to make it more interesting, the man with the ax takes all.

1989 February 13, “The Measure of a Man” (2:41), in Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 2, episode 9, spoken by Dr. Katherine Pulaski (Diana Muldaur):

(card games, slang) The king of diamonds in a deck of playing cards.

kirvesmies

nickname for the king of diamonds — see also king of diamonds


buttony

She collected all her treasures, the bottle with the brass top that she had got from Shovel’s old girl, […] the pretty buttons Tommy had won for her at the game of buttony, the witchy marble, […] these and some other precious trifles she made a little bundle of and set off for Double Dykes with them, intending to leave them at the door.

1896, J. M. Barrie, chapter 15, in Sentimental Tommy, London: Cassell, page 172:

(Scotland, games) A children’s game played with buttons.


Laker

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


Daley

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

(soccer) A supporter of Rochdale Association Football Club


sideline cut

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


post up

en-verb

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

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

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


reverse pass

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

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

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


Champions League

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

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

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

Չեմպիոնների լիգա

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

CAF Champions League
CAF Champions League

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

AFC Champions League Elite
AFC Champions League Elite

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


infravision

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-infravision.wav

(fantasy, gaming) A superhuman ability to see in the dark.


deal in

deal in (third-person singular simple present deals in, present participle dealing in, simple past and past participle dealt in)

deals in (present singular third-person)
dealing in (participle present)
dealt in (participle past)
dealt in (past)

(transitive, card games, with in as adverbial particle) To deal cards to someone entering a game; to enter someone into a game by dealing cards to that person.


deal out

deal out (third-person singular simple present deals out, present participle dealing out, simple past and past participle dealt out)

deals out (present singular third-person)
dealing out (participle present)
dealt out (participle past)
dealt out (past)

Deal me out of this round: I have to make a phone call.

(transitive, card games) not to deal cards to someone who is leaving a game.


switch pitcher

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

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

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


high-low

(gambling) Designating a blackjack card counting technique in which the lowest cards are worth +1 point and the highest cards −1 point, and the counter places higher bets against higher point totals.


high-low

en-noun

high-low (countable and uncountable, plural high-lows)

(uncountable, card games) A card game where a player has to guess if the next card will be higher or lower than the one shown.


fieldsman

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(cricket, chiefly Australia, dated in UK) fielder


AOO

(gaming) Initialism of attack of opportunity.


high and tight

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

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


QRP

queen's rook's pawn
queen's rook's pawn#English

(chess) Initialism of queen's rook's pawn.


total football

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


top seed

(sports, games) The player or team given the highest ranking in a seeded tournament, who has the most favourable draw.


hoodman-blind

What devil was't
 That thus hath cozened you at hoodman-blind?

c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, act 3, scene 4:

(obsolete, games) The game of blind man's buff.


game manager

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

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


junkball

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


IBB

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


run of play

Except for the ending. Going down by nine points when we seemed to have the run of play was shattering.

2005, Sean Dooley, The Big Twitch, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 225:

Was it a dominating performance? No. Were you expecting dominance? Fact is, Sounders FC created more than twice the chances of the home team. While the finishing was sub-par, the run of play was controlled by the guys in green until the unfortunate mistakes.

2010 April 25, Joshua Mayers, “Sounders FC 0, Toronto FC 2 -- postgame thoughts and player ratings”, in Seattle Times:

(idiomatic, sports, games) A passage of play; a series of consecutive moments, considered as a whole.


Linsanity

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


lead the line

en-verb

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

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

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

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

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

(idiomatic, soccer) To play as centre forward.


swabber

(card games) Four privileged cards, formerly used in betting in whist.


centre-forward

(soccer) Alternative form of centre forward.


one-and-done

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

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


mib

On my first shot of the last game, I hit two mibs, my shooter and one marble exiting the ring, but leaving a snooger, which is a “commie rat” target marble near the rim of the ring.

2002, Norah L. Lewis, Freedom to Play: We Made Our Own Fun, page 114:

Thirteen five-eighths-inch marbles (“mibs”) are set in a cross in the center. Each mib should be three inches from its neighboring mib. Each player shoots with a “shooter,” a marble that's one-half to three-quarter inches in diameter.

2002 May, Sean McCollum, “For All the Marbles”, in Boys' Life, page 28:

He focused on the mib on the edge of the group inside the circle. The blue one was his favourite and he had it right where he wanted it.

2011, Sean Kelly, “At the Crossroads: A Teacher's Journey to Understanding Classroom Conflict”, in Peter Gouzouasis, editor, Pedagogy in a New Tonality, page 36:

(games) A marble (glass ball used in games), especially one used as a target.


uncastled

White's uncastled King is now in great danger because of the threat of a discovered check.

1994, Max Euwe, Walter Meiden, Chess Master Vs. Chess Amateur, page 87:

(chess) Not having performed the castling move.


Elite Eight

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

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

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

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


double bonus

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

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


role player

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

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


biffer

(informal, cricket) An attacking batsman.


follow-on

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


CFG

City Football Group
w:City Football Group

(soccer) Initialism of City Football Group.


side center

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


catstick

en-noun

catstick (usually uncountable, plural catsticks)

catsticks (plural)
cat-stick (alternative)

You, ſirrha; Sheepes-head, / VVith a face cut on a cat-ſticke, Doe you heare?

c. 1621–1623 (date written), Philip Massinger, The Maid of Honour. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Robert Allot, […], published 1632, →OCLC, Act II, scene ii:

(countable) A stick or club used in the game of tipcat.


hoodman

hoodman (plural hoodmen or (MTE, slang) hoodmans)

hoodmen (plural)
hoodmans (plural slang)

Hush, hush! Hoodman / comes.

c. 1604–1605, William Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well, act 4, scene 3:

(obsolete, games) The blindfolded player in the game of hoodman-blind, or blind man's buff.


163rd game

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Serie A

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


Ligue 1

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


Bundesliga

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

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


Primeira Liga

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


Eredivisie

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


Hibs

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

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

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


Dons

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

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

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

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

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


Caley

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


Killie

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


Doonhamers

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


Boro

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


take a knee

en-verb

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

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

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

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

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


18-yard box

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

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


stepover

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


NFC

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

compound

By random chance alone, 99 times out of 100, the Lions should have won an NFL or NFC championship. Worse for arguably the league’s unluckiest fan base, the Lions haven’t really been competitive.

2022 February 12, Harry Enten, “Cincinnati Bengals vs. Los Angeles Rams: The unluckiest sports teams and other Super Bowl musings”, in CNN:

National Football Conference
w:National Football Conference

(American football) Initialism of National Football Conference.


screwback

(snooker, pool, billiards) The effect of putting backspin on the cue ball.


lowbie

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

Chickening offers a much deeper prospect in grief management — no more raiding lowbie zones on a drunken Saturday morning just for kicks!

2008 November, Caleb Chew, “Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning”, in GameAxis Unwired:

(online gaming, informal) A low-level character in an MMORPG.


grasscutter

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


crampet

crampets (plural)
crampette (alternative)
crampit (alternative)

(curling) A metal plate for a player to stand on when delivering the stones.


cuebid

cuebids (plural)
cue bid (alternative)
cue-bid (alternative)

(bridge) A bid of a suit that has already been bid by opponents.

(bridge) A slam-investigating bid made during an auction's later rounds that shows control of a suit.