onside kick

American

Or onsides kick

noun

Football.

a kickoff deliberately kicked a short distance in an attempt by the kicking team to regain possession of the ball by recovering it after it has traveled forward the legally required distance of 10 yards, beyond the 50-yard line.

Etymology

Origin of onside kick

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

And these days, teams can’t even try the surprise onside kick.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 22, 2025

Chicago’s furious comeback involved one of the less likely plays in football in recent years: actually recovering an onside kick.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 22, 2025

Bhaghani immediately unfurled an onside kick that Kanye Clark recovered, leading to a field goal and a 10-0 cushion.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 4, 2025

When an onside kick failed, it was game over.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 30, 2024

Rutgers went on to score a touchdown with 1 minute 23 seconds left and would have had a chance to win the game had it recovered an onside kick snagged by UCLA’s Grant Gray.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 23, 2024

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023