Touchdown Meaning
/ˈtʌt͡ʃ.daʊn/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA six-point score occurring when the ball enters possession of a team's player in the opponent's end zone.
nounA defensive action of grounding the ball in the team's own in-goal to stop the play.
Sentence Examples
In American football, a touchdown scores six points.
Tom scored a touchdown.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The wide receiver scored a ____ in the final seconds of the game.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The pilot announced that we were just a few minutes away from ____ at the international airport this afternoon today.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree English touch English down English touchdown From touch + down.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"“I must have caught 45 or 50 touchdowns in that right corner,” he told The Baltimore Sun in 2009. “It was sloped some, a little downhill, which helped me speedwise. I wasn’t all that fast.”"
— 2020 October 29, Richard Goldstein, “Jimmy Orr, a Favorite Target of the Colts’ Unitas, Dies at 85”, in The New York Times:
"A first Test try by Fergus McFadden and a Tomas O'Leary touchdown helped Ireland to a 15-12 half-time lead."
— 2011 February 13, Lyle Jackson, “Ireland 22-25 France”, in BBC:
"And I think it's gonna be a long, long time / 'Til touchdown brings me 'round again to find / I'm not the man they think I am at home / Oh, no, no, no[…]"
— 1972 April 17, Elton John, Bernie Taupin, “Rocket Man”, in Honky Château, performed by Elton John:
"The American Red Cross sent me to Alabama within twenty-four hours of the tornado's touchdown, and I visited the communities of Oak Grove and Rock Creek four subsequent times."
— 2003, Jessica McNew, Eyes in a Storm:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The wide receiver scored a ____ in the final seconds of the game.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The pilot announced that we were just a few minutes away from ____ at the international airport this afternoon today.