gridiron
noun
Did you know?
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
Andy Frye, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Beyond his accomplishments on the gridiron, Payton was also a community leader and committed philanthropist, which earned him the honor of having the NFL Man of the Year Award named after him.
—Tyler Holzhammer, New York Times, 13 Sep. 2025
On the opposite side of the gridiron, Kansas didn’t exercise the same amount of aggression, attempting to run out the clock late in the first half and not attempting a fourth-and-7 trailing late in the fourth quarter.
—Maddie Hartley, Kansas City Star, 7 Sep. 2025
While the Impalas are struggling with an 0-3 record out of the gate, the Ravens keep showing signs that the young school’s athletic come-up is starting to translate to the gridiron.
—Matt Schubert, Denver Post, 6 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gridiron
Cite this Entry
“Gridiron.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gridiron. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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gridiron
noun
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