Advertisement - Continue reading below

Definition of "touchback" [touch•back]

  • Football A play in which the defensive team recovers and downs the ball behind its own goal line after the ball has been kicked or passed there by the team on offense. No points are scored, and the ball is put back in play by the recovering team on its own 20-yard line. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "touchback" in a sentence
  • "A touchback is when the other team punts or kicks it into your endzone and you choose to take the ball on the twenty yard line rather than attempt a return."
  • "A touchback is when you down the ball inside your own endzone when you are a returner or defender."
  • "A touchback is when the ball is downed in the end zone."
Words like "touchback"