touchback

[tuhch-bak]

noun Football.

a play in which the ball is downed after having been kicked into the end zone by the opposing team or having been recovered or intercepted there, or in which it has been kicked beyond the end zone.Compare safety(def 6a).

Origin of touchback

First recorded in 1885–90; touch + back²

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for touchback

Contemporary Examples of touchback

The other, to his immediate left, is calling for a touchback, the result of an interception.
The NFL Replacement Referees’ 6 Worst Blown Calls (VIDEO)
Jake Heller
September 26, 2012

Historical Examples of touchback

But the Boxford boy was on the ball and had scored a touchback!
Deering of Deal
Latta Griswold
He might have played it safe by taking it over the line for a touchback, but the idea didnt occur to him.
Center Rush Rowland
Ralph Henry Barbour
She punted on the next down and Stone misjudged the ball and followed it across the line for a touchback.
Quarter-Back Bates
Ralph Henry Barbour
Carmine finally fell on the ball for a touchback and the excitement in the stands subsided.
Left Guard Gilbert
Ralph Henry Barbour

British Dictionary definitions for touchback

touchback

noun

American football a play in which the ball is put down by a player behind his own goal line when the ball has been put across the goal line by an opponentCompare safety (def. 4b)

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