footballn.
/ˈfʊtbɔːl/, U.S. /ˈfʊtˌbɔl/, /ˈfʊtˌbɑl/ I. Senses relating to a game.
1.
a. Any of a number of games played between two teams and involving kicking or in some cases handling a ball (either before the development of specific codified forms, or subsequently as a generic term for those forms collectively).The various games known in different parts of the English-speaking world as football all have their origins in the simple and largely unregulated versions played in medieval Britain. The Football Association and the Rugby Football Union, founded in 1863 and 1871 respectively, drew up rules for their preferred versions in the nineteenth cent., formalizing a distinction between games involving kicking a round ball and those in which players handle an oval ball.Used without a distinguishing word, football can refer to various individual forms of the game depending on the particular country or region (see sense 2).
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > [noun]
football1409
football play?1537
football-playing1583
kick-ball1828
footer1844
footer1863
1409 Proclam. in H. T. Riley Memorials London (1868) 571 (MED) [The games called] foteballe [and] cokthresshyng.
1424 in Rec. Parl. Scotl. to 1707 (2007) 1424/19 The king forbiddis that ony man play at the futball undir the pain of iiij d.
1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour i. xxvii. sig. Niv Foote balle, wherin is nothinge but beastly furie, and exstreme violence.
1596 Z. Jones tr. M. Barleti Hist. G. Castriot viii. 310 The heads of those that were slain..were throwne vp and downe the streets, the children playing with them as at footbal.
a1639 Earl of Monmouth Mem. (1759) 92 I had intelligence that there was a great match made at foote-ball, and the chiefe ryders were to be there.
1663 J. Heath Flagellum (ed. 2) 8 Players at Foot-ball, Cudgels, or any other boysterous sport or game.
1769 T. Smollett Adventures of Atom I. 115 He not only kicked, but also cuffed the whole council of Twenty-Eight, and played at foot-ball with his imperial tiara.
1791 W. Bartram Trav. N. & S. Carolina 509 The foot-ball is likewise a favorite, manly diversion with them [sc. the Indians].
1845 Derby Mercury 22 Jan. The playing on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday, at foot-ball in the public streets and thoroughfares, having been found a great public nuisance, and contrary to law [etc.].
1864 London Society Mar. 247/1 Football is a very ancient English game, which was for many years a very popular pastime of the people.
1940 Rotarian Sept. 31/1 All kinds of football—the kind played in America and the soccer and rugby of the Old World—are known to Australia.
1996 S. Macdougall in C. Given-Wilson Illustr. Hist. Late Medieval Eng. 90 By the fifteenth century tennis was popular, while football had made its appearance among the lower classes before 1350.
2009 D. A. Campbell Deliv. of God vii. 243 The phrase ‘right wing’..may simply be a reference..to a position in a game of football (whether rugby, rugby league, or soccer!).
b. With distinguishing word denoting an individual codified form of the game.American football, Gaelic football, etc.: see also the first element.Some of these codified forms are frequently referred to simply by the first element(s), e.g. Australian rules n. at Australian n. and adj. Compounds, Gaelic, rugby n., etc.
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1861 Bell's Life in London 15 Dec. (Suppl.) 1/5 He is entirely ignorant of the rules of Rugby football.
1914 Boston Post 23 Nov. 10/3 Gaelic football and hurling will endeavor to push themselves into the limelight of fall sports.
1956 J. R. Seeley et al. Crestwood Heights iv. 80 Canadian football, both collegiate and professional, engages much interest until the end of November.
1972 J. Mosedale Football Pref. p. ii Rugby evolved into American football, first played by colleges when Princeton met Rutgers in 1869.
2010 G. Kingston Black Crow i. 4 It wasn't until McLeod was nine that he started playing Australian football.
2. spec. Denoting individual codified forms of the game.
a. Australian (esp. in Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, and Tasmania). = Australian rules n. at Australian n. and adj. Compounds.In the rest of Australia football usually refers to rugby (cf. sense 2c).
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > Australian football > [noun]
football1859
footy1900
Aussie rules1918
Australian rules1925
Australian National Football1927
national football1958
1859 Argus (Melbourne) 25 July 5/1 The bulk of the 50 good men and true chosen to represent Melbourne and South Yarra at football donned respectively their white and blue uniforms.
1910 Age (Melbourne) 28 Mar. 8/8 The department might substitute a winter game for football in the schools.
1986 Advertiser (Austral.) (Nexis) 5 Sept. Rendell suffered a groin strain, one of football's most hard-to-heal injuries.
2013 D. Shilbury in I. O'Boyle & T. Bradbury Sport Governance iii. 42 In 1985..the VFL [= Victorian Football League] released a report..which was the blueprint for restoring the fortunes of football in Victoria.
b. Chiefly British. The game governed by the rules of the Football Association and played with a round ball between two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field having goalposts at either end, the object being to score the most goals by kicking or heading the ball into the opposing team's goal. Cf. soccer n.With the exception of Ireland (see note at 2e), the usual term in most of the rest of the English-speaking world is soccer. In New Zealand and South Africa use of both football and soccer is common.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > association football > [noun]
football1863
association1867
soccer1885
footy1900
the beautiful game1977
1863 Essex Standard 4 Nov. Football.—A meeting of the Captains of Clubs has been held at Freemasons' Tavern for promoting the adoption of a general code of rules.
1890 Times of India 10 Oct. 3/2 A game of football, under the Association rules, was played on the Cooperage ground yesterday afternoon.
1927 H. J. Savage Games & Sports in Brit. Schools & Universities iii. 56 The principal games for inter-school contests are football in the autumn and winter and cricket in the spring and summer.
1995 T. Mason Passion of People? viii. 120 The popularity of football eventually developed a momentum of its own.
2014 Age (Melbourne) (Nexis) 13 Aug. 63 It is possible to quibble whether the sport should be referred to in Australia as football or soccer—the latter to differentiate it from Australian football.
c. The game of rugby football, esp. as played according to the rules of the Rugby Football League (cf. rugby league n. 2). Now chiefly Australian (esp. in Queensland, New South Wales, and the Australian Capital Territory).In the rest of Australia football usually refers to Australian Rules (cf. sense 2a). The game of rugby football is typically called rugby in the rest of the English-speaking world.In early use frequently overlapping with and difficult to distinguish from sense 1a.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > rugby football > [noun]
football1863
rugby1870
rugby football1882
rugger1889
footy1900
1863 Sporting Gaz. 7 Feb. 229/1 Football is played at Rugby on a large level field, or piece of ground, near either end of which is erected a goal, composed of two upright posts 18 feet high, with a crossbar 10 feet from the ground.
1870 Every Sat. 12 Feb. 98/4 Dr. Temple was quick to see that football is a power hardly second to that of the head-master at Rugby.
1872 Leeds Mercury 7 Feb. 6/6 The second match between the above [sc. England and Scotland], under the Rugby Union rules, was played at the Kennington Oval Cricket-ground on Monday afternoon... The afternoon was well adapted for football.
1907 Fortn. Rev. Nov. 845 Unfortunately for the London lover of football both the New Zealand and the South African Test matches in town were absolute failures.
1946 Port Macquarie News 16 Aug. Last Sunday a large crowd saw Port Macquarie defeat Coffs Harbour 16/5, in an exciting game of football.
2008 G. Gregan Halfback, Half Forward xi. 277 The boys were weary after all the football they'd been playing.
d. North American. = American football n. at American n. and adj. Compounds 3a. Also Canadian: = Canadian football n. at Canadian n. and adj. Compounds 3.In Canada the word football is used to refer to both American and Canadian football.The rules of American football were developed from 1862 and standardized between 1873–80. The precise nature of the game referred to in quot. 1870 is therefore unclear.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > American football > [noun]
American football1879
football1881
gridiron1896
grid1928
1870 N.Y. Herald 10 Nov. 5/1 A number of the Sophomore class were engaged in playing football upon the public square in New Haven.]
1881 N.Y. Herald 20 Nov. 8/5 A splendid game of football was played yesterday at the Polo Grounds between..Harvard and Princeton.
1905 Manitoba Morning Free Press 7 Nov. 5/4 If we had the same coaching.., our football would be a much better game than theirs.
1925 F. S. Fitzgerald Great Gatsby i. 7 Her husband..had been one of the most powerful ends that ever played football at New Haven.
2014 Medicine Hat (Alberta) News 20 Dec. a11/1 It's football played well by great athletes.
e. Irish English. = Gaelic football n. at Gaelic n. and adj. Compounds 2.In Ireland the word football is also used to refer to soccer; the word soccer is used chiefly to avoid ambiguity or differentiate explicitly between the two games.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > other forms of football > [noun]
Gaelic football1886
football1887
touch1936
murderball1976
futsal1987
1887 Freeman's Jrnl. (Dublin) 15 Feb. 7/7 Yesterday two matches of football under the rules of the G A A, were played off in this town in the presence of several thousands of persons.
1948 Irish Times 7 July 2 Football is more widespread over all four provinces.
1990 Anglo-Celt (Cavan, Ireland) 5 July 22/4 All children interested in learning the skills of football..are invited to attend.
1999 A. Ó Maolfabhail in G. Jarvie Sport in Making of Celtic Cultures xi. 164 A small number of noted players excel in both hurling and football.
3. The playing of the game of football; the game played to a specified standard or in a specified way. Also: a game, practice session, etc., of football.
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1889 Manch. Guardian 25 Feb. 7/2 The football was of a very high class.
1927 Observer 21 Aug. 18/3 The team are young and play attractive football, with a clever set of outsides who combine well.
1965 Boys' Life Sept. 49/1 You got football tomorrow and, the way you play, you need all the rest you can get.
1981 S. McAughtry Belfast Stories i. 77 It was a day for good football, mild, with a gentle breeze.
2002 N.Y. Times Mag. 10 Mar. ii. 62/1 Beckham attracts as much attention for his fashion as his football.
II. Senses relating to a ball.
4. A ball used in any of the various games called football, either round (e.g. in soccer) or oval (e.g. in rugby and American football) and typically made of leather or plastic and filled with compressed air.The earliest footballs consisted simply of an inflated pig's bladder. Leather is known to have been used as early as the 16th cent. to encase the bladder; however, pigs' bladders remained in use in the making of footballs until the invention of vulcanized rubber in the mid 19th cent.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > [noun] > ball > types of
footballa1425
handballc1440
match ball1849
knur1852
bat-ball1876
racquetball1973
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > [noun] > ball
footballa1425
kick-ball1828
puntabout1845
leather1868
pigskin1889
a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) II. 280 Cristene men ben chullid, now wiþ popis, and now wiþ bishopis..and now þei clouten þer shone wiþ censuris, as who shulde chulle a foot-balle.
c1440 (c1350) Octovian (Thornton) l. 1244 Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe.
1486 Blasyng of Armys sig. evi, in Bk. St. Albans It is calde in latyn pila pedalis a fote bal.
?1518 A. Barclay Fyfte Eglog sig. Aiijv The sturdy plowmen,..dryuynge the fote ball.
1579 T. Lupton Thousand Notable Things x. 300 Take two peeces of good Neates lether well tand and drest, such as foote balles be made of.
1649 R. Baxter Saints Everlasting Rest (new ed.) iv. xiv. 818 Like a Footbal in the midst of a crowd of Boyes.
1694 P. A. Motteux tr. F. Rabelais Pantagruel's Voy.: 4th Bk. Wks. iv. vii. 29 The Bladder, wherewith they make Foot-balls.
1707 E. Ward London Terræfilius No. 1. 27 He is blown up with Compliments, as a Foot-ball is with Wind, and..like the Leathern Bauble, he deserves soundly to be Kick'd.
1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 117. ⁋8 The flaccid sides of a football.
1814 W. Wordsworth Excursion vii. 343 If touched by him The inglorious foot-ball mounted to the pitch Of the Lark's flight. View more context for this quotation
1915 Colorado School Mines Mag. Dec. 251/2 The custom was started a few years ago to bring home the football used in every game we won.
1937 Huon & Derwent (Austral.) Times 23 Sept. 8/3 A bare-footed tramp, who can forward pass the football fabulous distances.
1987 Anglo-Celt (Cavan, Ireland) 19 Nov. 6 (advt.) Free raffle ticket..for an O'Neills Football, autographed by ‘Meath 1987 All-Ireland Champions’.
2014 Gloucestershire Echo (Nexis) 30 July 6 The children impressed Daniel by being able to balance the football on their necks.
5. A person or thing likened to a football in being kicked or tossed about or contended for (chiefly literary and poetic); a person who or thing which is treated carelessly or capriciously; (frequently with modifying word) an issue that is the subject of persistent argument or controversy (cf. political football n. at political adj. and n. Compounds 2).
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the world > movement > motion in specific manner > irregular movement or agitation > [noun] > tossing about > one who or that which is tossed about
football1532
1532 T. More Confut. Tyndale in Wks. 416/1 For so he maye translate the worlde in to a footeball yf he ioyne therewith certayn circumstaunces, and saye this rounde rollyng foote~ball that men walke vpon [etc.].
c1604 Charlemagne (1938) ii. 23 I am the verye foote-ball of ye starres.
1659 R. Baxter Key for Catholicks ii. iv. 448 Therefore make no unnecessary Laws: cast not a foot-ball of contention before them.
1711 Let. to Sacheverel 14 England must always have a National Football, and you, at present, are That.
1798 T. Holcroft Knave, or Not? i. i. 2 Such is the world: and shall I, like a driveller, make myself its football?
1808 Raleigh Reg. & N.-Carolina Gaz. 4 Feb. Perish the wretch who would tamely submit to be the football of George and Napoleon, to furnish sport for these ambitious despots!
1879 J. A. Froude Cæsar xv. 231 The..institutions of the mistress of the world had become the football of ruffians.
1902 McGill Univ. Mag. Dec. 44 The old idea that Canada should figure as a football to be kicked from one to the other had cropped up again.
1978 Financial Times 17 Nov. 16/3 The plant's..workforce claim that they themselves have been used as a football by BL [= British Leyland] in its restructuring operations.
2015 Daily Tel. (Austral.) (Nexis) 3 Mar. 11 The idea of a Greater Sydney Commission to drive investment in Western Sydney..has turned into an election football.
6. Originally and chiefly U.S. A briefcase containing authentication codes and other items that allow the President of the United States to authorize a nuclear strike at any time. Also more fully nuclear football.The briefcase is kept close to the president, carried by a military aide. Now also occasionally used with reference to other world leaders with nuclear capabilities.
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1965 Bluefield (W. Va.) Daily Tel. 27 July 4/4 The ‘black bag’ or ‘football’, as we call it, goes wherever the President travels.
1977 Newsweek (U.S. ed.) (Nexis) 31 Jan. (National Affairs section) 29 Two men never far from Ford's side when he traveled: his personal physician and a military aide with the ‘football’, the bagful of top-secret codes for launching nuclear weapons.
1981 Times 6 Apr. 4/4 (headline) Business proceeds as normal after big scare over America's nuclear football.
1990 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 3 June (Late ed.) i. 1 Mr. Gorbachev had a bodyguard with him on the helicopter as well who was presumably in charge of the Soviet ‘football’.
2011 D. Q. Wilber Rawhide Down xii. 155 Reagan's military aide had the president's football at the hospital, and the FBI had recovered Reagan's nuclear code card.
Compounds
C1.
a.
(a) General attributive.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > [adjective]
football?1537
?1537 T. Elyot Castell of Helthe ii. xxxiii. f. 50 Vehement exercyse is compounde of vyolente exercyse, and swyfte, whan they are ioyned togyther at oone tyme... footeballe playe may be in the number therof.
1589 R. Greene Menaphon sig. K3v At foote ball sport thou shalt my champion be.
1619 D. Calderwood Solution Dr. Resolutus iv. 55 These two bone companions, prettie football men.
a1639 H. Wotton Reliquiæ Wottonianæ (1651) 524 And now She trips to milk the Sand-red Cow; Where, for some sturdy foot-ball Swaine, Jone strokes a sillibub, or twaine.
1716 J. Gay Trivia ii. 35 Lo! from far, I spy the Furies of the Foot-ball War.
1769 H. Brooke Fool of Quality IV. xvii. 105 In these Foot-Ball Conflicts, there are certain Boundaries entitled Goals.
1863 London Society Oct. 353/1 We shinned each other on the football green.
1887 M. Shearman Athletics & Football (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) 247 Shrove Tuesday..was..the great ‘football day’ in England for centuries.
1904 Manawatu (N.Z.) Daily Times 23 June The football final between Old Boys and Institute produced one of the best displays ever witnessed in Palmerston.
1943 Newcastle (New S. Wales) Morning Herald & Miners' Advocate 28 Apr. 3/5 (headline) Actress marries football star.
1952 Boys' Life June 46/2 They haven't won a football championship in ten years.
1984 L. Auchincloss Bk. Class iv. 37 A big burly boy, a football hero, of craggy countenance and tousled hair.
2008 Observer (Nexis) 18 May 12 Scholes—a ‘football genius’ to Harrison..—is a certain starter for United against Chelsea in Moscow.
(b)
football coach n.
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1885 Boston Daily Globe 10 May 2/8 Frank..is an expert boxer and a good all-round athlete, and his superior as a foot-ball coach does not exist.
1949 Times 11 Mar. 3/4 Alderman..has accepted a position as cricket and football coach to the R.M.A., Sandhurst.
2004 W. St. John Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer 2 Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant, the gravelly voiced football coach..who coached Alabama to six national championships.
football play n.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > [noun]
football1409
football play?1537
football-playing1583
kick-ball1828
footer1844
footer1863
?1537Footeball play [see Compounds 1a(a)].
1584 T. Cogan Hauen of Health i. 2 Some are vehement, as dansing, leaping, footeball play.
1770 A. Brice Mobiad i. 4 This War owns Fellows-All, like Football Play.
1894 H. G. Beyer Foot-ball & Physique Devotees 12 Are all the finely-developed young men whom we see in the field at one of our championship games really the result pure and simple of foot-ball play?
1933 Auckland Star 2 Mar. 18 American collegiate football, with its multitudinous ‘frills’ which almost completely obliterate the actual football play.
2010 P. Jarvis in P. Broadhead et al. Play & Learning Early Years iv. 68 The only footballer's name I heard invoked in football play was that of David Beckham.
football season n.
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1853 Bell's Life in London 9 Oct. 6/1 This [cricket] match..could not be played out in consequence of the football season commencing.
1915 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Island vi. 58 After the football season opens I won't have any spare Saturday afternoons.
2007 Esquire Sept. 136 As a new football season dawns, the Premiership will be hailed once more as the best league in the world.
football squad n.
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1890 Boston Daily Advertiser 13 Mar. 8 A large number of men presented themselves as candidates for the football squad which will train during the spring.
1970 Times 8 May 9 England's World Cup football squad suffered their first casualty in Mexico on Wednesday.
2008 H. Walker et al. Breaking Free 71 I did make the football squad my freshman year of high school.
football team n.
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1861 Age (Melbourne) 18 May 5/5 The Richmond foot-ball team will comprise the following list:—Petrie, Rayer, Harrison [etc.].
1913 San Francisco Chron. 10 Feb. 9/2 The Vallejo football team today routed the eleven from the cruiser California by a score of 57 to 0.
2010 P. Daniels Class Actor xxxii. 217 It's a bit like a football team getting a new manager: they'll often win the first few games on the bounce.
football tournament n.
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1867 Express 2 Dec. 2/6 St. Andrew's Day was celebrated at Eton College with a grand football tournament between the ‘Collegers’ and ‘Oppidans’.
1915 Mich. Alumnus Jan. 201/2 Play in the championship series will be similar to that in the football tournament, with department champions determined in preliminaries.
1972 Xenia (Ohio) Daily Gaz. 15 Aug. 6/1 State football tournaments are held in other states with neighboring Pennsylvania and Texas..leading the list.
2010 D. Redshaw Malaga Football Club 46 A football tournament was..organised in Barcelona.
b. attributive. Designating media coverage of football, as football report, etc.; of or relating to such coverage, as football commentator, football correspondent, etc.
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1863 Bell's Life in London 21 Nov. Suppl. 1/5 To judge from the very little football news which you have this season published from Rugby, the youthful disciples of Laurence Sheriff must..have grown lazy.
1877 Manch. Guardian 26 Nov. 6/3 One of our football correspondents sends us the following: [etc.].
1895 Denver Evening Post 26 Nov. 3/4 That football story of mine was the best thing we had in the paper this morning.
1938 Newspaper News (Sydney) 1 Oct. 1/5 He has been successively a..casual football reporter, [etc.].
1987 Sewanee Rev. 95 24 On Sundays the News of the World; my father said it was for the football reports.
1999 C. Barker Television, Globalization & Cultural Identities ii. 46 The BBC..is dependent on a deal with Sky for its football coverage.
2011 Viz Oct. 48/3 It always makes me laugh when I hear football commentators refer to the goal as ‘the old onion bag’.
c. attributive. Designating clothing designed to be worn when playing football, as football sock, football top, etc.See also football boot n., football helmet n., football jersey n., football kit n., football pad n., football shirt n., football strip n., football uniform n.
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1864 London Society Mar. 249/1 Eighty players in football costume..are divided into two sides, easily distinguishable by the difference in their bright-coloured jerseys.
1870 Chambers's Jrnl. 25 June 402/1 In the middle of the road stand a large group in white football trousers.
1932 C. Beaton Diary Mar. in Wandering Years (1961) xiii. 255 I bought vast quantities..of football vests.
1948 Irish Times 11 Feb. 5/6 One wore a Rugby scrum cap, another a leather lumber-jacket; one achieved a fine independence by wearing blue football shorts over grey flannels.
1969 Canberra Times 3 Jan. 9/1 The water absorption rates of wool and acrylic football guernseys.
1992 N.Y. Times 20 Oct. b15/1 Soiled socks and football shoes..were strewn about the locker room.
2002 Scotsman (Nexis) 6 June 20 In Tokyo station they gathered yesterday, peely white bodies in tight football tops.
2012 P. Graeme-Evans Island House 211 She was wearing football socks and a jacket over thermals.
C2. Objective with participles and verbal nouns.
football-loving adj.
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1867 Marlburian 11 Sept. 127/1 Avery fashions the thick-soled boots, meant to encase the feet of football-loving youths.
1971 R. Evans & R. D. Novak Nixon in White House vii. 177 Nixon's economic strategy—or ‘game plan’ as it was called, in deference to the football-loving President.
2008 R. Simons Bamboo Goalposts (2009) xviii. 272 The football-loving public was rocked by further bribery and corruption scandals.
football-playing n. and adj.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > [noun]
football1409
football play?1537
football-playing1583
kick-ball1828
footer1844
footer1863
1583 P. Stubbes Anat. Abuses sig. Liiv Some spend the Sabaoth day..in..foot-ball playing, and such other deuilish pastimes.
1696 C. Merret in Philos. Trans. 1695–7 (Royal Soc.) 19 345 About the Year 1642. a great Number of People got together at a Foot-ball playing.
1794 T. Ruggles Hist. Poor II. xlii. 241 If it be found that any member has brought upon himself sickness..by..drunkenness, fighting, wrestling, or football playing..he shall not have any weekly allowance.
1825 J. M. Sherer Scenes & Impressions Egypt & Italy 336 A few fine boys of Rome, of the foot-ball playing age, scrambled, evidently for the fun.
1930 Washington Post 10 Feb. 13/6 Sam Cordovano has received the reward due him for his great football playing at Georgetown University.
2010 A. M. Spagna Test Ride on Sunnyland Bus ix. 113 My dad had inherited money from his football-playing father.
C3.
football association n. (also with capital initial(s)) a body with responsibility for governing Association Football in a particular country or region; abbreviated F.A. (see F.A. n. at F n. Initialisms 3a).Frequently with the name of the relevant country or region in the titles of such bodies. As the oldest organization of this type, the governing body of Association Football in England is known simply as the Football Association.Also with reference to other forms of football.
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1863 Evening Herald 27 Oct. 5/3 Mr. E. C. Morley..moved, and Mr. Mackenzie..seconded the following resolution:—‘That it is advisable that a football association should be formed, for the purpose of settling a code of rules for the regulation of the game of football.’
1870 Morning Post 7 Mar. 6/4 The rules of the Football Association respecting the handling of the ball, &c., were in force on this occasion.
1931 Manitoba Free Press 28 July 7/4 Amendment of the soccer rules to allow two substitutes at any time up to the last 15 minutes of a match..will be asked for by the province of Quebec Football association.
1990 Kimberley Echo (Kununurra, W. Austral.) 17 Sept. 17/1 The East Kimberley Football Association EKFA, VAGG medal..went to Darrin (Dangles) Findlay.
2009 Daily Tel. 2 Mar. 14/3 The Football Association may consider introducing a ‘mercy rule’ in youth soccer.
football boot n. a boot or (now usually) shoe designed to be worn when playing football, typically having a number of studs on the sole for extra grip.In North America such a boot or shoe is called a cleat; cf. cleat n. Additions a.
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1863 Once a Week 12 Dec. 694/1 If I left you to your own devices, you would get yourself up in a terrific pair of football boots for the purpose of breaking your adversaries' shins.
1910 Observer 27 Nov. 18/3 They were obviously only written because of the unfair attacks on the play of two of the grandest bodies of Rugby Unionists that ever put on football boots.
1959 Guardian 7 Dec. 5/2 Until about three or four years ago a football boot was a football boot, varying only in size and weight.
2011 S. Kelman Pigeon Eng. 4 His football boots were on the railings tied up by their laces.
football club n. an organization of players, managers, owners, or members associated with a particular football team; (also) the football team itself.In North America the more usual term is football team.
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1849 Bell's Life in London 30 Sept. 6/5 Arrangements will be made for the formation of a foot-ball club, which it is intended to carry on during the winter and spring months.
1867 Cheltonian Dec. 348 All Old Collegians who care for the noble game, and are able to attend, would send in their names to the Captain of the ‘Football Club’, Cheltenham College.
1905 Leinster Express 18 Feb. Last week a meeting was held at Vicarstown to form a football club under the G A A [= Gaelic Athletic Association] rules.
2006 L. Crolley & D. Hand Football & European Identity ii. viii. 138 A region's most successful football club is regarded as representative not only of the town or city in which it is based but also of its entire region.
football coupon n. British Betting an entry form in football pools consisting of a list of upcoming football matches and used by gamblers to predict results.
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society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > betting > football pools > [noun] > coupon or entry
football coupon1891
pool coupon1936
pools coupon1951
pools entry1972
1891 Cheshire Observer (Chester) 14 Feb. 4/2 The results of the matches given on the 1st Football Coupon were [etc.].
1940 S. O'Casey Star turns Red i. 5 The concentration necessary to choose the right teams for entry in his football coupons.
2000 S. Spilsbury Media Law vi. 245 The defendant argued that every football coupon had to contain certain features, whoever produced them.
football-crazy adj. having enormous enthusiasm for football.
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1889 Belfast News-let. 26 Mar. 3/5 It has been said that the United Kingdom is football crazy.
1934 Daily News (Perth, Austral.) 21 June 2 Club spirit reaches fever pitch and the people become football crazy.
2013 D. J. Flynn War on Football i. 9 A state legislator in football-crazy Texas filed a bill seeking to limit tackling to one practice a week.
football fan n. a person with enthusiasm for and an interest in football or a football team; a football supporter.
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1894 Evening Times (Cumberland, Maryland) 10 Nov. 1/6 Fred should practice with the boys, as every football fan in town would like to see him on the home eleven.
1925 Times 7 Jan. 7/3 Would he become a mere football ‘fan’, or would games confer upon him real physical and moral benefits.
2004 P. C. Newman Here be Dragons (2005) xx. 685 A football fan went to the High Court to defend his right to sleep at a boring football game.
football field n. a field on which football is played, esp. one specially prepared and marked for this purpose; (also) the area of play in a game of football.In quot. 1852 referring to the name of a field.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > [noun] > ground
football ground1835
football field1867
park1867
football pitch1876
pitch1895
football stadium1903
1852 Sheffield & Rotherham Independent 13 Nov. 3/1 The Foot Ball Field.]
1867 Routledge's Handbk. Football 59 I know of no prettier sight than a Football field on a bright March afternoon.
1910 W. Camp Bk. Foot-ball vi. 234 Few people understand how a foot-ball field is taken care of.
2014 Sun (Nexis) 12 Oct. I've tried to do everything I can on the football field the best I can.
football game n. an event in which two football teams compete against each other; a football match.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > [noun] > game or match
football match1649
football game1717
1717 J. Geddie Some Choice Sentences E. Geddie 14 Having one Day taken some View of a Foot-ball Game, she thought it to be vain and idle.
1851 Examiner 23 Aug. 534/1 Rowing matches, football games, cricketings, and skatings.
1930 Sun (Baltimore) 26 Dec. 11/7 Of the full sixty minutes of a football game the ball is ‘in play’..for an average of only seven minutes.
2011 Independent 24 Jan. 11/2 What's wrong with a woman being an official in a football game?
football ground n. an area of land on which football is played, a football field; esp. a football stadium.In North America the more usual term is football field or football stadium.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > [noun] > ground
football ground1835
football field1867
park1867
football pitch1876
pitch1895
football stadium1903
1835 Colonist (New S. Wales) 30 July 244/4 The innocent Sabbath amusements of the foot-ball ground, the ball room or the card table.
1898 Westm. Gaz. 12 July 10/1 Would it [sc. St Paul's] not make a good football ground on a wet day if all the chairs were moved from under the dome?
1985 Guardian 2 Feb. 6/3 The concentration of debris into an area scarcely larger than a football ground showed that the missile had crashed.
2014 Gloucestershire Echo (Nexis) 6 Oct. 9 Being so close to the football ground, we get our fair share of people.
football helmet n. a helmet worn when playing American or Canadian football.Originally made of padded leather, but now typically consisting of a rigid plastic shell with interior padding and a face guard of narrow metal bars.
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1902 Independent (N.Y.) 15 May 1168/1 The American college which has for its shield an open book..should be regarded by the public as finding a more fitting shield in the pigskin or the football helmet.
1976 B. Scott Lacrosse iii. 21/2 A lacrosse helmet is considerably lighter than a football helmet.
2011 Wall St. Jrnl. 19 Nov. c4/2 Contemporary football helmets may be little better than vintage ‘leatherhead’ helmets at protecting athletes' brains from common severe impacts.
football hooligan n. originally Australian and New Zealand a person who engages in violent behaviour associated with or motivated by his or her support of a football team.Although first attested with reference to Australian Rules football and rugby, the term is now usually associated with Association Football, esp. in Britain.
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the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > violent behaviour > [noun] > by those attending a football match > person
football hooligan1904
soccer hooligan1967
1904 in Sydney Sportsman 21 Sept. 1/1 Football hooligans. Football as an aid to the detection of criminals is strongly believed in by the Sydney police.
1909 Taranaki Herald (New Plymouth, N.Z.) 23 June 1 Football hooligans... Football hooliganism has been making itself apparent in Northern Taranaki during the present season.
1963 Guardian 12 Nov. 2/6 (headline) Move to curb the football hooligans.
2000 F. D'Aguiar in K. Owusu Black Brit. Culture & Society ii. xvi. 199 A skinhead in the form of a football hooligan impersonating the grunts of an ape while scratching both armpits with his hands.
football hooliganism n. originally Australian and New Zealand violent behaviour of, or characteristic of, football hooligans.Although first attested with reference to rugby, the term is now usually associated with Association Football, esp. in Britain.
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the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > violent behaviour > [noun] > by those attending a football match
football hooliganism1906
soccer hooliganism1953
1906 Feilding (N.Z.) Star 13 July Football hooliganism. The local Rugby Union..has..been spurred into action in regard to ‘hooliganism’.
1929 Cootamundra (New S. Wales) Daily Herald 28 May 4/2 Sergeant Wrightson..effectively checked the football hooliganism at Harden some years ago.
1968 Daily Mirror 9 May 4/1 It is hoped that [the inquiry]..will result in useful suggestions on how to combat football hooliganism before next season's kick-off.
2003 J. Mullaney We'll be Back 320 Today, football hooliganism seems to be making a resurgence.
football jersey n. a top designed to be worn when playing football; esp. one that is part of a particular team's strip; cf. jersey n.1 3a.
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1861 Scotsman 24 Oct. 1/6 (advt.) Football jerseys, steel collars, leather collars.
1868 Routledge's Mag. for Boys Mar. 166 Flannel trousers, thick boots, football jerseys, and velvet football caps.
1955 O. Manning Doves of Venus i. vi. 62 Here and there the red of football jerseys stood out oddly from the foggy light.
2013 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 19 Aug. 7 The Tigers' player had taken off his football jersey.
football kit n. clothing worn to play football; esp. the uniform worn by and distinguishing a football team during play; also as a count noun.With reference to American and Canadian football the more usual term is football uniform.
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1881 Times of India 5 Aug. 1/4 (advt.) Polo and football kit.
1941 Manch. Guardian 6 May 2/6 Corporal Taylor, who ran to the rescue from a football match, was clad only in football kit.
2008 S. Hay Billy Angel 50 My parents had bought me an enormous tool bag for my birthday when I'd much rather have got a new football kit.
football league n. a competitive league of football clubs; spec. (with the and capital initials) (in Britain) the official league competition featuring professional football clubs from England and Wales.The Football League was founded in 1888. It comprised the leading football clubs from England and Wales until 1992, when the top division of the league broke away to form the Premier League.
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1883 N.-Y. Times 16 Dec. 7/3 The first annual meeting of the New-York and Westchester School Foot-ball League was held at No. 20 West Fifty-ninth-street yesterday.
1888 Blackburn Standard 1 Sept. 7/1 The Football League promises to provide some of the most interesting games of the ensuing season.
1939 Scotsman 11 Sept. 4/4 The various football leagues and associations are meeting this week.
1991 J. Maguire in G. Jarvie Sport, Racism, & Ethnicity v. 112 Out of the top ten scorers in each division of the Football League, only 2.4 per cent were Afro/Caribbean.
football-mad adj. having enormous enthusiasm for football.
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1873 Graphic 8 Nov. 447/3 A large portion of the male community is evidently football mad.
1961 M. Hindus House without Roof x. 188 That's how football-mad our people are. We are building a new stadium of twenty-five thousand seats.
2008 I. O'Connor Arnie & Jack 24 His strength and athleticism..could've made him a football hero in a football-mad place.
football manager n. (originally) a person who runs a football league, organization, etc.; (in later use, chiefly British) a person who manages a football team, typically having responsibility for team selection, strategy, etc.
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1889 Northern Echo 27 Apr. 4/5 Any one..can contribute to a more perfect condition of things, to a more liberal and straightforward policy on the part of football managers.
1901 Washington Post 17 Oct. 8 Speeches were made by..Football Manager O'Donnell, Baseball Manager Kanaby [etc.].
1932 Guardian 1 Dec. 8/6 Experts.., including a famous London football manager and an international referee, declared that first-class football is perfectly possible under electric floodlights.
1993 J. Tunstall Television Producers i. iv. 73 They believe the London tabloids to be absurdly over-critical..of..football managers.
2011 A. Grose Are you considering Therapy? 65 A football manager can earn millions if it seems he can make a drastic difference to his team's performance.
football match n. an event in which two football teams compete against each other; a football game.In North America the more usual term is football game.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > [noun] > game or match
football match1649
football game1717
1649 W. Davenant Love & Honour iv. 26/2 I will see thy head in a leatherne case first, Kickt in a footbal match from gole to gole.
1711 E. Budgell Spectator No. 161. ⁋3 I was diverted from a farther Observation of these combatants, by a Foot-ball Match.
1884 Stevens Indicator 15 Jan. 3/1 Before 1876, the foot-ball matches of the different colleges were governed by the American Association rules.
1902 Daily Chron. 8 Apr. 5/1 The terracing which collapsed with such disastrous results during the football match at Ibrox Park on Saturday.
2011 Private Eye 23 Dec. 27/3 This undisciplined rabble might go down well at a football match.
football oval n. (a) originally and chiefly Australian an oval sports field on which Australian Rules football is played; a stadium having such a field; (b) chiefly U.S. an oval football ground, esp. with a running track at its perimeter (now rare); cf. oval n.1 1d.
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1877 South Austral. Advertiser 20 Aug. 5/2 It was arranged to play on the Glanville Park Football Oval.
1903 Evening Herald (Syracuse, N.Y.) 9 Apr. 7/3 Besides the baseball grounds and football oval, there will be a running track.
1957 N.Y. Times 12 Dec. 42 (heading) O'Malley asks 2-year use of football oval while site in Los Angeles is built.
2015 L. Wilkinson Green Valentine 8 The only greenery in the entire suburb was the football oval.
football pad n. an item of protective padding worn when playing American or Canadian football; esp. (in plural) a set of pads worn over the shoulders and chest to protect the upper body.In quot. 1890 and occasionally in early use with reference to other forms of football.
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1890 Middlesex Gaz. 4 Oct. 6/1 Hummerstone..was charged with having..stolen..a pair of football pads.
1898 Lowell (Mass.) Sun 27 Sept. 7/3 (heading) Football Pads... Nowadays, it appears as though the players are so well protected from injuries.
1937 Washington Post 16 May 6/7 (headline) Lentz invents new football pad... Designed to protect badly bruised thigh muscles.
1967 N.Y. Times 21 May 6 s/5 The gold leaves on Maj. Peter Dawkins's shoulders rested easily, as if they were football pads.
2011 L. Cartwright & W. A. Pitney Fund. of Athletic Training (ed. 3) xxiv. 296/1 Compared with football pads, ice hockey and lacrosse shoulder pads are made of thin padding.
football pitch n. an area of ground specially prepared and marked for playing football; (also) the area of play in a football game.Chiefly with reference to Association Football. With reference to American and Canadian football the more usual term is football field.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > [noun] > ground
football ground1835
football field1867
park1867
football pitch1876
pitch1895
football stadium1903
1876 Sporting Gaz. 9 Dec. 1211/3 Battersea..has occasionally two or more football pitches actually overlapping one another.
1930 Brisbane Courier 2 July 5/2 N. Dean (Mayne Harriers) and C. Brady (Toowong)..ran wide to the touchline of the football pitch.
1986 Financial Times 26 Aug. 7/4 The development will have a dealing floor the size of Wembley football pitch.
2006 S. Tucker Playground Mafia ii. 15 There is a large concrete playground, about the size of half a football pitch.
football player n. a person who plays football, esp. professionally or in organized matches; a footballer; frequently with modifying word indicating quality or style of play.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > [noun] > player
football player1421
footballist1851
footballer1852
1421–3 Acct. in Brewers Company Memoranda Bk. (London Metropolitan Archives, Guildhall Library CLC/L/BF/A/021/MS05440) f. 107v Et de xx d. rec' de ffoteballeplayers.
1423 in R. W. Chambers & M. Daunt Bk. London Eng. (1931) 148 The names of Crafftes and Fraternites, þat deden hyren owr halle..þe Armoureres..þe Footballpleyers.
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear iv. 83 Stew. Ile not be struck my Lord. Kent. Nor tript neither, you base football player . View more context for this quotation
1789 World 16 May A young Gentleman took the hill for 200 guineas, against eleven of the best football players in the country.
1823 Derby Mercury 19 Feb. That day, so welcome to schoolboys, apprentices, football-players, and pancake eaters, is called Shrove Tuesday.
1867 Marlburnian 18 Dec. 211/1 Everyone cannot be a good football player.
1973 Eagle (Bryan, Texas) 29 Sept. b1/1 I was a mediocre, run-of-the-mill high school football player, but I had fun playing the game.
2010 S. Dunne Disciple xi. 173 Famous football players grinning for the camera adorned several walls.
football pool n. British Betting an organized system of betting on the results of football matches, the winners receiving large sums accumulated from entry money; (also) = football coupon n.; usually in plural; cf. pool n.3 4b.
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society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > betting > football pools > [noun]
football pool1929
pool1929
1929 Times Index Jan.–Mar. 59/2 Football ‘pool’.
1936 Economist 7 Mar. 517/2 We may..put..the total ‘rake off’ of football pool promoters..at not less than 30 per cent. of the amounts staked.
1957 M. Spark Comforters i. 6 Louisa Jepp sat at the table writing out her football pools.
2012 Sun (Nexis) 25 July 35 My wife says she'll leave me unless I stop doing the football pools online.
football practice n. practice undertaken to acquire, maintain, or improve football skills; a session of such practice.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > [noun] > practice
puntabout1845
football practice1870
kick-in1961
1870 Huddersfield Chron. 8 Oct. 5/1 Huddersfield Athletic Club. Football practice at The Grove, Leeds-road.
1953 Sun (Baltimore) 31 Aug. (B ed.) 14/3 The Southern Conference digs in Tuesday for its first football practice since seven of its greatest powers walked out to form a league of their own.
2006 P. Cleage Baby Brother's Blues xvi. 90 He always kept an ice bag in the refrigerator for after football practice.
football shirt n. a top designed to be worn when playing football; esp. one that is part of a particular team's strip.Usually with reference to Association Football; in other forms of football the more usual term is football jersey; cf. also Guernsey n. 2a with reference to Australian Rules football.
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1871 Argus (Melbourne) 3 June 8/4 (advt.) Athletic sports... Singlets, Tights, Trunks, all colours; football Shirts.
1905 Manch. Guardian 4 Sept. 12/1 The possession of a football shirt, and, if possible, knickers also, is a matter of supreme importance to the budding player.
2008 S. Garfield Error World 102 Convery pointed out a cardboard box containing a rare football shirt... It was the shirt worn by Pelé in the 1970 World Cup final.
football stadium n. a stadium in which football is played.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > [noun] > ground
football ground1835
football field1867
park1867
football pitch1876
pitch1895
football stadium1903
1903 Logansport (Indiana) Pharos 20 Oct. 6/6 The Harvard football stadium has cut off one end of the running track which surrounds the varsity gridiron.
1986 R. L. Geiger To advance Knowl. iii. iii. 128 Broad appeals were utilized to build the men's dormitory complex and the football stadium.
2006 Independent 13 Nov. 7/2 Dartford FC is claiming the world's first ‘eco-friendly’ football stadium, which opened on Saturday.
football strip n. chiefly British a uniform worn by and distinguishing a football team during play; cf. strip n.2 6.With reference to American and Canadian football the more usual term is football uniform.
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1923 Manch. Guardian 29 Oct. 7/6 All sorts of uniforms were worn, including overalls and football strips.
1992 Daily Mail (Nexis) 27 Oct. 2 The firm..makes the England football strip.
2013 N. Farndale Road between Us 422 He is still wearing his football strip, the white and black of the German World Cup team.
football supporter n. chiefly British a person with enthusiasm for and an interest in football or a football team; cf. football fan n.
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1879 Belfast News-let. 22 Mar. 7/2 The match should excite great interest amongst football supporters.
1925 Gippsland (Victoria) Times 8 Jan. 3/2 A large attendance of football supporters is desired at a meeting of the Sale Football Club.
2010 P. Alegi Afr. Soccerscapes iv. 62 Under Kenneth Kaunda, a keen football supporter, the Green Buffaloes were national champions six times.
football uniform n. chiefly North American a uniform worn by and distinguishing a football team during play.In Britain and Ireland the more usual terms are football kit and football strip.
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1868 Edinb. Evening Courant 6 Oct. (advt.) Football uniforms for all the Academies.
1958 Boys' Life Oct. 33/1 Four cadets from the B football squad, dressed in football uniforms with white jerseys, a large gold N on each chest, climbed the stand.
2005 C. Sittenfeld Prep (2010) 28 She was dressed in a football uniform, shoulder pads beneath the jersey and eye-black across her cheekbones.
football union n. a governing body responsible for the organization and regulation of football; (also) a trade union for football players.In quot. 1879 with reference to the Rugby Football Union.
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1879 Bell's Life in London 10 May 4/5 To suppose that a cricket association can be formed because a Football Association and a Football Union exist, is a mistake.
1939 Pittsburgh Courier 16/1 The West Coast has a right to secede from the football union.
1987 Orange County (Calif.) Reg. 5 Oct. f13/1 NFL management was attempting to ‘break the backs of the..football unions’.
2011 A. Augustyn Britannica Guide Football ii. 43 The CRU [= Canadian Rugby Union] became the umbrella organization for all the football unions.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
footballv.
/ˈfʊtbɔːl/, U.S. /ˈfʊtˌbɔl/, /ˈfʊtˌbɑl/ transitive. To kick (an object) about as if it were a football. Also figurative.
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society > leisure > sport > types of play, actions, or postures > [verb (transitive)] > other actions or types of play
outshoot1545
football1599
pitch1717
make1819
to warm up1868
to draw out1893
bench1898
foot1900
cover1907
cannonball1911
telegraph1913
unsight1923
snap1951
to sit out1955
pike1956
to sit down1956
wrong-foot1960
blindside1968
sit1977
1599 T. Nashe Lenten Stuffe 46 They footebald their heades togither.
?1623 O. Felltham Resolues lxxxiii. 274 To see how well-meaning simplicitie is foot-ball'd.
1652 E. Sparke Scintillula Altaris xii. 85 The pitifull sport and Tennis-Ball of those unrighteous Judges... Hurried up, and down from one Tribunall to another.., foot-balled between Jews and Gentiles.
1701 Rod for Tunbridge Beaus 22 Or Kick a Rascal off the Walks, Foot-ball'd before by fifty Folks.
1763 Beauties All Mag. Sel. II. 101/2 Suppose every lame duck was to be foot-ball'd up and down the walks of the Change.
1860 All Year Round 11 Feb. 363 I knew he longed..to football my unshorn head up and down the knubbly street.
1882 Puck's Ann. 124 He unsheathed his sword, whipped off the knight's head, and foot-balled it all around the royal domicile.
1930 Brandon (Manitoba) Daily Sun 24 Jan. 1/4 He accused the government of footballing the unemployment crisis.
2014 D. Lambdin King's Marauder xliii. 355 ‘Hallo, Precious,’ he said to the kitten, and tossed the cork for a toy, which got pounced and footballed in a twinkling.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1409
v.1599