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gridiron

[grid-ahy-ern]
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noun
  1. a football field.
  2. a utensil consisting of parallel metal bars on which to broil meat or other food.
  3. any framework or network resembling a gridiron.
  4. a structure above the stage of a theater, from which hung scenery and the like are manipulated.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to mark off into squares or design with a network of squares.
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Origin of gridiron

1250–1300; Middle English gridirne, gridir(e), gridere, variant of gridel griddle; variants in -irne, -ire, etc. are associated by folk etymology with ModE variant irne, ire iron
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for gridiron

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • He has all his housework there, a broom and a duster, and I dare say he has a cooking-stove and a gridiron.

    Malbone

    Thomas Wentworth Higginson

  • The gridiron of Saint Lawrence is of an agreeable freshness to him.

    The Dream

    Emile Zola

  • Cold potatoes may be fried in slices or quarters, or broiled on a gridiron.

  • Cut out the stems, and put them, with the top of the mushrooms downwards, on a gridiron.

    The Skilful Cook

    Mary Harrison

  • Put them on a gridiron that has been well rubbed with sweet butter.

British Dictionary definitions for gridiron

gridiron

noun
  1. a utensil of parallel metal bars, used to grill meat, fish, etc
  2. any framework resembling this utensil
  3. a framework above the stage in a theatre from which suspended scenery, lights, etc, are manipulated
    1. the field of play in American football
    2. an informal name for American football
    3. (as modifier)a gridiron hero
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Often shortened to: grid

Word Origin

C13 gredire, perhaps variant (through influence of ire iron) of gredile griddle
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

Word Origin and History for gridiron

n.

cooking utensil, early 14c., griderne, alteration (by association with iron) of gridire (late 13c.), a variant of gridil (see griddle). Confusion of "l" and "r" was common in Norman dialect. Also a medieval instrument of torture by fire. As the word for a U.S. football field, by 1896, for its lines.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper