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.

See Examples For:

onside kick

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

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 22, 2025

Palos Verdes made a brief rally in the fourth quarter, recovering an onside kick, recovering another fumble and closing to 27-14 on two touchdown passes by senior quarterback Giorgio Di Mascio.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2025

To start the second half, the Kares pulled off a successful onside kick, leading to a drive that ended with Penunuri punching the ball in from the one-yard line.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2024

Fresno State drove for a quick field goal but couldn’t complete the comeback after its attempt to recover the onside kick failed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 30, 2024

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