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
Sharon Goldman, Fortune, 9 Feb. 2026
Love starred on the gridiron at the University of Notre Dame for three years and then was drafted by the New York Giants in the fourth round, and played four years for the Giants before signing a two-year, $12 million contract with the Seahawks.
—Hank Beckman, Chicago Tribune, 9 Feb. 2026
However, before the Seattle Seahawks and Patriots take the field, the real athletes took to the gridiron in the 2026 edition of the much-beloved Puppy Bowl.
—Rin Velasco, The Providence Journal, 8 Feb. 2026
Back on the gridiron, this will be the Patriots 12th Super Bowl appearance.
—Kelsie Hoffman, CBS News, 6 Feb. 2026
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 Feb. 2026.
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gridiron
noun
