Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🏈 A football kick 🏀 A basketball basket
field goal

field goal

9 3.3
A basket scored during play by throwing the ball through the other team's hoop
  • noun
  • /fiːld ɡoʊl/
translation icon : tiro de campo
  • The player celebrated after hitting a difficult field goal from near the three-point line.
  • field goal percentage
  • number of field goals

You know, and I, I led the league in field goal percentage a number of years.

Examples

  • Kicker Aaron Jones connects on a 44-yard field goal that extends Baylor's lead to 17-10.

    Blog text (8)

  • Shrum recorded both of her field goals after halftime and finished the game with seven points.

    Blog text (8)

  • The field goal is good.

    Two-Minute Warning (1976)

  • I thought our defense played well to hold them to two field goals in the first half.

    Blog text (23)

  • Ten yards further up, and the field goal would have been the way to go.

    Blog text (9)

  • A field goal could be the deciding factor.

    Two-Minute Warning (1976)

  • The Packers are last in the league in field goal percentage.

    Blog text (8)

  • We're down a field goal, but we're on offense and we've got the ball.

  • Dallas finished that drive with a field goal with 1:47 to play to win the game.

    Blog text (27)

  • Dan Bailey kicked four field goals, including a go-ahead 28-yarder with 3:25 left.

    Blog text (13)

Synonyms

goal
vsfield goal
294 1.0

A point a team gets when it puts the ball into the net

is specifically the basketball in-play score that excludes free throws
basket
vsfield goal
14 1.5

A score made by throwing the ball through the hoop in basketball

excludes scores made from free throws during play stoppages
slam dunk
vsfield goal
3 3.4

A strong shot where a player jumps and puts the ball through the hoop with one or both hands

is any in-play score that need not be forceful or aerial
game-winning field goal
vsfield goal
  • US
2 3.4

A goal kicked near the end of a game that gives the team the win

is the general in-play score type not limited to decisive end scores
trey
vsfield goal
  • Jargon
1 7.9

A basketball shot from far away that scores three points

is any in-play score not defined by a three point value
buzzer-beater
vsfield goal
1 5.5

A successful shot made just before the game or period ends

is any in-play score regardless of when during the game it happens
putback
vsfield goal
  • Jargon
1 5.6

A score a player makes right after grabbing a rebound

is any in-play score that can arise from many different plays
stuff shot
vsfield goal
  • Jargon
7.0

A basketball play where a player puts the ball down hard through the hoop

is any in-play score not necessarily done with force or downward motion

Surface Forms

field goal singular
field goals plural

Morphology

field + goal

The compound is partially compositional: 'goal' clearly signals a scoring event and 'field' narrows it to the playing area, so a learner can infer it denotes a kind of score. However, the specific procedural meaning (in American football, a score made by kicking the ball between the posts) and its sport-specific sense are not fully predictable from the parts, so knowledge of the constituents alone may not give the exact meaning.

Etymology

Field goal comes from calling a 'goal' scored from the playing area—the field—rather than from a free throw, so it means a basket scored during normal play.