ball hawk
1
7.0
- noun
- /bɔl hɔk/
- Slang
:
interceptor
- With his reputation as a ball hawk, many quarterbacks are hesitant to throw in his direction, fearing an interception.
Examples
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Jamal Golden had a great pass breakup that saved a huge fourth down, and Isaiah Johnson was a ball hawk on a busted play action.
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I'll take Kap over Jason Campbell all day long, and the Bears are gonna find out that we still have a D full of ball-hawks too.
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The one value Eric had is that he was a ball hawk.
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My main concern is that the best ball hawks in the league will feast on him.
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A ball hawk? I don't think so.
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That being said, Martin was always a ball hawk, just a horrible tackler.
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Not a bad comparison, but if the definition of "ball hawk" is interceptions only, then I stand corrected.
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They have in Cortland Finnegan a ball hawk who already has three interceptions this year, and the secondary has held up well when considering their opponents.
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As a ball hawk, he intercepted multiple passes during the game, showcasing his skill and awareness.
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The coach emphasized the need for more ball hawks on the team to improve their defense against opposing offenses.
How Skilled
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound pairs the concrete object 'ball' with 'hawk' used metaphorically (a bird of prey), so the image of a predator hunting or seizing the ball maps directly onto a player who intercepts or steals it. This metaphorical, though compositional, mapping is inferable by learners who know both words but relies on recognizing the animal-as-agent metaphor, so it is not fully transparent.
Etymology
Ball hawk comes from the image of a hawk, a bird that watches and dives to catch food, and the ball of the game. One popular image is a player who watches play closely and dives in to grab the ball, so the term means 'a player very good at intercepting, stealing, or catching the ball'.