touch-down

Noun

touchdown (countable and uncountable, plural touchdowns)

1. (Canadian) A six-point score occurring when the ball enters possession of a team's player in the opponent's end zone.
   • Today I scored my first touchdown.
2. A defensive action of grounding the ball in the team's own in-goal to stop the play.
3. A try (scoring play of grounding the ball in the opposing team's in-goal).
   • A first Test try by Fergus McFadden and a Tomas O'Leary touchdown helped Ireland to a 15-12 half-time lead.2011 February 13, Lyle Jackson, “Ireland 22-25 France”, in BBC
4. The moment when an aircraft or spacecraft makes first or final contact with the ground during a landing.
   • The passengers audibly relaxed at touchdown.

   Synonyms:

   setdown

5. The moment of contact of a tornado with the ground.
   • The American Red Cross sent me to Alabama within twenty-four hours of the tornado's touchdown, and I visited the communities of Oak Grove and Rock Creek four subsequent times.2003, Jessica McNew, Eyes in a Storm