gridirons

Noun (1)

gridiron (plural gridirons)

1. An instrument of torture on which people were secured before being burned by fire.
   • I know, there have been found seely boores, who have rather endure to have their feet broiled upon a Greedyron, their fingers ends crusht and wrung with the lock of a Pistoll, their eyes all bloody to be thrust out of their heads with wringing and wresting of a cord about their foreheads, before...1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 32, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC
2. An iron rack or grate used for broiling meat and fish over coals.

Noun (2)

gridiron (countable and uncountable, plural gridirons)

1. Any object resembling the rack or grate.
   • Just north of Farringdon station, and to the east of Ray Street, there is a wide cutting bounded by another of those brick walls nicely calculated to be just too high for you to see over. So prop your bike against it, and stand on the down-pointing pedal crank. You are looking at the Ray Street...2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 55
2. An openwork frame on which vessels are placed for examination, cleaning, and repairs.
3. A raised framework from which lighting is suspended.
4. The field on which American football is played.
   • They were quite close to him now, and crouching low, like tacklers on a gridiron. One of them raised his hand and lowered it, as though counting off seconds—one—two—three!1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 104

   Synonyms:

   football field

See all 9 meanings of gridiron