own goal

American  

[ohn gohl] / ˈoʊn ˌgoʊl /

noun

1. Soccer, Ice Hockey. an unintentional goal scored to the offense when the ball struck by a defensive player goes into the defensive team’s net: o.g.

   The goalkeeper's own goal was a stunningly bad moment.

2. an unintentional harm or disadvantage to oneself or one’s associates, brought about by one’s own action, often when the intention was to harm or disadvantage someone else.

   The prosecution’s relentless badgering proved to be an own goal, and a much-relieved defendant went free.

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own goal British  

noun

1.  o.g.  soccer a goal scored by a player accidentally playing the ball into his own team's net

2. informal any action that results in disadvantage to the person who took it or to a party, group, etc with which that person is associated

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Etymology

Origin of own goal

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

own goal

Plenty of people on the right have realized what an own goal this was, and they have tried to offer a more sympathetic response to women’s struggles.

From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026

Unfunny and out of bounds, offsides, an own goal — all of the things.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026

But a 111th-minute own goal handed the three-time winners a 3-2 victory.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026

As well as Ronaldo's double, a free-kick from Nuno Mendes, an own goal from Uzbekistan goalkeeper Abduvohid Nematov and a late fifth from substitute Rafael Leao gave Portugal the third-biggest victory of the 2026 tournament.

From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026

Stanford was standing on her own goal line.

From Stanford Stories Tales of a Young University by Charles K. (Charles Kellogg) Field