touchdown

[ tuhch-doun ]

noun

1. Football. an act or instance of scoring six points by being in possession of the ball on or behind the opponent's goal line.
2. Rugby. the act of a player who touches the ball on or to the ground inside his own in-goal.
3. the act or the moment of landing:

   the aircraft's touchdown.

touchdown

/ ˈtʌtʃˌdaʊn /

noun

1. the moment at which a landing aircraft or spacecraft comes into contact with the landing surface
2. rugby the act of placing or touching the ball on the ground behind the goal line, as in scoring a try
3. See field goal
   American football a scoring play worth six points, achieved by being in possession of the ball in the opposing team's end zone TD See also field goal

verb

1. (of a space vehicle, aircraft, etc) to land
2. rugby to place the ball behind the goal line, as when scoring a try
3. informal.
   to pause during a busy schedule in order to catch up, reorganize, or rest

Word History and Origins

Origin of touchdown¹

First recorded in 1860–65; touch + down ¹

Example Sentences

I’m going for that first down, getting out, and I’ve got four more downs to get a touchdown.

From Washington Post

Aaron Jones of the Green Bay Packers and Chris Carson of the Seattle Seahawks have been considered the top free agent running backs, but after Fournette was a force in the Super Bowl with 89 yards and a touchdown, that may have changed.

From Washington Post

Perhaps the most unexpected development of the Super Bowl, though, is that Kansas City does not even have a touchdown.

From Washington Post

Brady also threw a touchdown pass to wide receiver Antonio Brown in a 21-for-29, 201-yard passing performance.

From Washington Post

The outburst began with an 80-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Ricky Sanders and ended with an eight-yard scoring grab by tight end Clint Didier.

From Washington Post

He caught eight passes for 71 yards and a touchdown in an overtime loss to the Buffalo Bills last weekend.

From The Daily Beast

However, the understanding of concussion and CTE while Marino was tossing touchdown passes simply did not exist.

From The Daily Beast

But if the trailing team pulled out a victory with a late touchdown, would anyone be shocked?

From The Daily Beast

They need to drive 88 yards to score a touchdown and be able to force over time.

From The Daily Beast

He could have really screwed up my score by leading his team to a touchdown.

From The Daily Beast

She smiled a little prim smile, which had to be her ice-queen equivalent of a touchdown dance, and the guards led me away.

From Project Gutenberg

As for Rabbit, he stopped short, pivoted to the right, flashed by his opponent to speed away and across the line for a touchdown.

From Project Gutenberg

It was a short lateral caught by Kentucky and hurled high and wide to Dave that at last scored their second touchdown of the game.

From Project Gutenberg

With the dogged determination of a slow, heavy team, they at last pounded their way across the field to a touchdown.

From Project Gutenberg

Stopping dead in his tracks, Kentucky had pivoted sharply to the right and was away for that touchdown.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• goal
• score
• six points