football
Americannoun
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a game in which two opposing teams of 11 players each defend goals at opposite ends of a field having goal posts at each end, with points being scored chiefly by carrying the ball across the opponent's goal line and by place-kicking or drop-kicking the ball over the crossbar between the opponent's goal posts.
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the ball used in this game, an inflated oval with a bladder contained in a casing usually made of leather.
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Chiefly British. Rugby.
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Chiefly British. soccer.
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something sold at a reduced or special price.
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any person or thing treated roughly or tossed about.
They're making a political football of this issue.
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(initial capital letter) a briefcase containing the codes and options the president would use to launch a nuclear attack, carried by a military aide and kept available to the president at all times.
verb (used with object)
noun
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any of various games played with a round or oval ball and usually based on two teams competing to kick, head, carry, or otherwise propel the ball into each other's goal, territory, etc See association football rugby Australian Rules American football Gaelic football
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( as modifier )
a football ground
a football supporter
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the ball used in any of these games or their variants
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a problem, issue, etc, that is continually passed from one group or person to another and treated as a pretext for argument instead of being resolved
he accused the government of using the strike as a political football
Other Word Forms
- footballer noun
Etymology
Origin of football
First recorded in 1350–1400, football is from Middle English fut ball. See foot, ball 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
My character in the show is English and not interested in American football, so I’m kind of having to play dumb.
Midnight neared as Steve, dressed in Crean Lutheran gear, visited with Arizona football staffers at the Saints’ basketball game at the Nike Extravaganza in Santa Ana.
From Los Angeles Times
In general, football and we as a dressing room, there is no better place for living together with different passports, different religions than the football club and our group.
From BBC
Liverpool manager Arne Slot says most Premier League games are no longer a "joy to watch" and his "football heart doesn't like" the emphasis on set-pieces this season.
From BBC
As football has become a commercial juggernaut, players and clubs have had to learn how to look after their brands.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
