foot ball

Noun

football (countable and uncountable, plural footballs)

1. (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.
2. (countable) The ball used in any game called "football".
   • The player kicked the football.
3. (Africa, Caribbean, New Zealand, South-Asia, UK, uncountable) 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.
   • Each team scored three goals when they played football.
4. (US, uncountable) 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.
   • Each team scored two touchdowns when they played football.
5. (Canada, uncountable) 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.
   • They played football in the snow.
6. (Australia, New-South-Wales, South, Southern, Tasmania, Western) Australian rules football.
   • 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.2017 May 29, “Zak Jones fined for off-the-ball hit, escapes MRP suspension”, in Fox Footy, retrieved 25 Jul 2025

See all 14 meanings of football