Football
Origin
foot + ball; may refer to the act of kicking a ball with the feet, or to the fact that games are played on foot, as opposed to on horseback.
Full definition of football
Noun
football
(countable and uncountable; plural footballs)- (general) A sport played on foot in which teams attempt to get a ball into a goal or zone defended by the other team.Roman and medieval football matches were more violent than any modern type of football.
- (other than the US, uncountable) association football: a game in which two teams each contend to get a round ball into the other team's goal primarily by kicking the ball. Known as soccer in the USEach team scored three goals when they played football.
- (US, uncountable) American football: a game in which two teams attempt to get an ovoid ball to the end of each other's territory.Each team scored two touchdowns when they played football.
- (Canada, uncountable) Canadian football: a game played on a wide field in which two teams attempt to get an ovoid ball to the end of each other's territory.They played football in the snow.
- (Australia, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, Northern Territory, uncountable) Australian rules football.
- (Ireland, uncountable) 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.
- (Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, uncountable) rugby league.
- (Australia, Ireland, New Zealand) rugby union
- (countable) The ball used in any game called "football".''The player kicked the football.
- (uncountable) Practise of these particular games, or techniques used in them.
- (figuratively, countable) An item of discussion, particularly in a back-and-forth mannerThat budget item became a political football.
- (slang, countable) The nickname of the leather briefcase containing classified nuclear war plans, which is always near the US President.
Synonyms
- ("football" in Britain)
- (all varieties of English) association football, soccer all varieties of English, wogball (Australian racist slang)
- (British slang) footie, footer
- ("football" in the US) British American football, Australia gridiron, gridiron football
- ("football" in Canada) outside Canada Canadian football
- ("football" in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia) footy, Aussie Rules, VFL (outdated), AFL
- ("football" in New South Wales and Queensland) footy, league
- ("football (association football)" in Australia) soccer
- (ball)
- (in all varieties of English and in all games called "football") ball
- (Australia: in Aussie rules and rugby) footy, pill
- (Australia: in football (soccer)) soccerball
- (in US: American football) pigskin