Word.ws English Dictionary

tackling

tackling is the present participle and gerund of tackle.

Noun

tackling (plural tacklings)

  1. The process by which something is tackled or dealt with.
    • His struggle with the Church ended in his voyage to Canossa; his tacklings of the problems of industrialism may be said to have reached their high-water mark when, thirty years before this country even approached the problem, […]1915, Ford Madox Ford, When Blood is Their Argument: An Analysis of Prussian Culture
  2. The tackle of a vessel.
  3. The harness for drawing a carriage.

Meaning of tackle

Verb

tackle (third-person singular simple present tackles, present participle tackling, simple past and past participle tackled)

  1. To force a person to the ground with the weight of one's own body, usually by jumping on top or slamming one's weight into them.
  2. To face or deal with, attempting to overcome or fight down.
    • The government's measures to tackle crime were insufficient.
  3. To attempt to take away a ball.
  4. To bring a ball carrier to the ground.
  5. (Singapore, colloquial) To "hit on" or pursue a person that one is interested in.
    • "Singing is the oldest, most effective and productive way to tackle girls," asserted the 37-year-old, affectionately known as Ah Guan at Tan Chang Ren Music Station.2000 June 7, Kor Kian Beng, “What's the best way to tackle girls? Sing”, in The New Paper, page 15

See all 16 meanings of tackle

Forms of tackling

pluraltacklings

Words formed from tackling

Phrases with tackling

Questions about tackling

What does tackling mean?
Tackling means the process by which something is tackled or dealt with.
What is tackling the present participle and gerund of?
Tackling is the present participle and gerund of tackle.
What part of speech is tackling?
Tackling is a noun.
What is the plural of tackling?
The plural of tackling is tacklings.

Words near tackling in the dictionary

  1. tackless
  2. Tackley
  3. tacklifter
  4. tacklifters
  5. tacklin'
  6. tackling
  7. tacklings
  8. tackravan
  9. tackravans
  10. tackroom
  11. tackrooms

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: tackling (page history and authors); tackle (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “tackling.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tackling. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.