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Synonyms

American football

British  

noun

  1. a team game similar to rugby, with 11 players on each side. Forward passing is allowed and planned strategies and formations for play are decided during the course of the game

  2. the oval-shaped inflated ball used in this game

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

They have taught her a few things: how to make mac and cheese, follow American football and wear university merchandise without shame.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 16, 2026

What’s wrong with celebrating American football for what it is: an American sport that is a behemoth in TV ratings?

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 14, 2026

"It was roughly the size and shape of an American football," says Mann.

From Science Daily • Feb. 11, 2026

American football "has had a huge impact on my life, and I hope it happens to some other people" back home, he said.

From Barron's • Feb. 7, 2026

Luma didn’t care much for American football, but she thought the boys might enjoy the plot.

From "Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference" by Warren St. John

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

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.