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Football
Definitions
- 1 A sport played on foot in which teams attempt to get a ball into a goal or zone defended by the other team. countable, uncountable
"Roman and medieval football matches were more violent than any modern type of football."
- 2 any of various games played with a ball (round or oval) in which two teams try to kick or carry or propel the ball into each other's goal wordnet
- 3 The ball used in any game called "football". countable
"The player kicked the football."
- 4 the inflated oblong ball used in playing American football wordnet
- 5 Association football, also called soccer: a game in which two teams each contend to get a round ball into the other team's goal primarily by kicking the ball. Africa, Caribbean, South-Asia, UK, uncountable
"Each team scored three goals when they played football."
Show 10 more definitions
- 6 American football: a game played on a field 100 yards long and 53 1/3 yards wide in which two teams of 11 players attempt to get an ovoid ball to the end of each other's territory. US, uncountable
"Each team scored two touchdowns when they played football."
- 7 Canadian football: a game played on a field 110 yards long and 65 yards wide in which two teams of 12 players attempt to get an ovoid ball to the end of each other's territory. Canada, uncountable
"They played football in the snow."
- 8 Australian rules football. Australia, New-South-Wales, South, Southern, Tasmania, Western, uncountable
"The weekend after AFL football chief Simon Lethlean made it clear players who jumper punched or punched opponents in the stomach would most likely be suspended, Jones was charged with striking Hawthorn’s Luke Breust."
- 9 Gaelic football: a field game played with similar rules to hurling, but using hands and feet rather than a stick, and a ball, similar to, yet smaller than a soccer ball. Ireland, uncountable
- 10 Any form of rugby. Australia, New-Zealand, countable, uncountable
"There's another game of football and there's a gold team and Mum and Dad are both on it!"
- 11 Any form of rugby.; rugby league. Australia, New-South-Wales, New-Zealand, uncountable
- 12 Any form of rugby.; rugby union. Australia, Ireland, New-Zealand, uncountable
- 13 Practice of these particular games, or techniques used in them. uncountable
"Both teams played open, attacking football and in the first thirty minutes, the referee barely blew his whistle."
- 14 An item of discussion, particularly in a back-and-forth manner countable, figuratively
"That budget item became a political football."
- 15 The leather briefcase containing classified nuclear war plans which is always near the US President. US, countable, slang
"The aide rides, along with the president's physician, in the “control car,” third in line in the motorcade. He is responsible for the football (or “black box” or “black bag”), a briefcase containing the codes and targeting information the president would require to order or authorize a nuclear attack."
- 1 To play football. intransitive, rare
"It was an announcement of the outbreak of what is now termed World War I. Some of us lads were footballing when we heard the news. It left us bewildered."
Etymology
From Middle English fotbal, footbal, equivalent to foot + ball, because the ball was primarily manipulated with the feet in early versions of the game (though some modern varieties involve more handling than kicking). The name for the briefcase is a play on “dropkick”, the code name of an early version of the nuclear war plan.
From Middle English fotbal, footbal, equivalent to foot + ball, because the ball was primarily manipulated with the feet in early versions of the game (though some modern varieties involve more handling than kicking). The name for the briefcase is a play on “dropkick”, the code name of an early version of the nuclear war plan.
See also for "football"
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Unscramble this word: football