gridiron
noun
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Are you ready for some football... lingo? Excellent, and if your big game preparations involve firing up a griddle at a tailgate party, even better—American football shares linguistic ties with that form of cookery. One of the oldest senses of gridiron referred not to a football field but to a metal grate used for broiling food over an open fire. In Middle English, such a grating was called a gredil, a root that gave modern English both gridiron and griddle. How did gridiron become associated with football? That happened in the late 1800s, when early football fields were marked in a grid, not by the familiar parallel yard lines we know today. From high up in the stands, the lines made the playing fields look like cooking gridirons. You might remember this the next time your favorite player is hotdogging in the end zone.
Examples of gridiron in a Sentence
Chrissy Suttles, Axios, 24 Jan. 2025
These valuable skills have taken former Alabama players far beyond the gridiron into professional careers, though many have indeed used their communication skills for countless interviews.
—Abigail Wilt, Southern Living, 14 Jan. 2025
Chad Powers is gearing up for the gridiron, complete with shoulder pads, cleats, jersey and (a literal) face mask.
—Claire Franken, TVLine, 28 Dec. 2024
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Even though the duo isn’t suiting up on the gridiron anymore these days, Brees and Gronk will still be involved with Super Bowl LIX through their Wingman campaign partnership with Bounty.
—Michael Saponara, Billboard, 17 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Gridiron.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gridiron. Accessed 8 Feb. 2025.
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gridiron
noun
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