tackle

American  

[tak-uhl, tey-kuhl] / ˈtæk əl, ˈteɪ kəl /

noun

1. equipment, apparatus, or gear, especially for fishing.

   fishing tackle.

2. a mechanism or apparatus, as a rope and block or a combination of ropes and blocks, for hoisting, lowering, and shifting objects or materials; purchase.

3. any system of leverage using several pulleys.

4. Nautical. the gear and running rigging for handling a ship or performing some task on a ship.

5. an act of tackling, as in football; a seizing, grasping, or bringing down.

6. Football.

   1. either of the linemen stationed between a guard and an end.

   2. the position played by this lineman.

7. (formerly) tack.

---

verb (used with object)

tackled, tackling

1. to undertake to handle, master, solve, etc..

   to tackle a difficult problem.

2. to deal with (a person) on some problem, issue, etc.

3. to harness (a horse).

4. Football. to seize, stop, or throw down (a ball-carrier).

5. Soccer, Field Hockey. to block or impede the movement or progress of (an opponent having the ball) with the result of depriving the opponent of the ball.

6. to seize suddenly, especially in order to stop.

verb (used without object)

tackled, tackling

1. Football. to tackle an opponent having the ball.

tackle British  

/ ˈteɪkəl, ˈtækəl /

noun

1. any mechanical system for lifting or pulling, esp an arrangement of ropes and pulleys designed to lift heavy weights

2. the equipment required for a particular occupation, etc

   fishing tackle

3. nautical the halyards and other running rigging aboard a vessel

4. slang a man's genitals

5. sport a physical challenge to an opponent, as to prevent his progress with the ball

6. American football a defensive lineman

---

verb

1. (tr) to undertake (a task, problem, etc)

2. (tr) to confront (a person, esp an opponent) with a difficult proposition

3. sport (esp in football games) to challenge (an opponent) with a tackle

Other Word Forms

• retackle verb (used with object)
• tackler noun

Etymology

Origin of tackle

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English takel “gear, apparatus,” from Middle Low German; akin to take

Explanation

To tackle a challenge means taking it on, so if you set out to tackle the classics of English literature, you should be prepared spend a lot of time in the library. The word tackle can be a verb or a noun, depending on its use. Today, the noun usually means fishing gear, but when it came into the English language it meant the ropes on a ship. If a ship was lurching about on the high seas, you dealt with that challenge by grabbing the tackle and wrestling it under control. Nowadays, people tend to think of tackling running backs and financial fraud, rather than ropes.

Example Sentences

Pop-up clinics were run in community centres and faith settings as the NHS and government partnered with local community leaders to tackle hesitancy.

From BBC • Apr. 16, 2026

He said that Ising’s two AI models, Ising Calibration and Ising Decoder, tackle major challenges that could otherwise impede the creation of quantum systems.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 15, 2026

The Ising family, named after a landmark mathematical model, “run the world’s best quantum processor calibration and allow researchers to tackle larger, more complex problems,” Nvidia said.

From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026

“With a bipartisan, five-year reauthorization signed into law, small businesses are once again empowered to create these innovative technologies and tackle our nation’s most pressing challenges head-on,” Markey said in a statement.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2026

Even before Mr. Loomis came, I had already been wrestling with the idea that I had to tackle that acre and a half with the shovel.

From "Z for Zachariah" by Robert C. O’Brien

Related Words

• begin
• engage in
• take on
• try
• undertake
• work on