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wideout

wideout

8 6.5
A player near the side of the field who catches passes in American football
  • noun
  • /ˈwaɪdˌaʊt/
  • Jargon
translation icon : receptor
  • "When they only have two wideouts on the field, we'll use our standard personnel with three linebackers."
  • a rookie wideout

Examples

  • The Steelers' top wideout Mike Wallace (groin) will likely see the field, as will Emmanuel Sanders (knee).

    Blog text (18)
  • The Cowboys are doing their best to make sure their talented wideout doesn't get into any further trouble.

    Blog text (9)
  • More specifically, who is the clear-cut #1 wideout on their team without question?

    Blog text (26)
  • Our defense is still our defense, and our wideouts stepped up finally.

    Blog text (27)
  • Of course, each wideout only made one play; there was no continuous threat in Oakland's aerial attack.

    Blog text (31)
  • He's happier talking about the emergence of wideout J.D. Woods.

    Blog text (32)
  • The junior wideout has been held scoreless and to just 11 receptions over the previous four contests.

    Blog text (24)
  • Rogers faced one of the quickest slot wide receivers in the NFL last week in Rams wideout Danny Amendola.

    Blog text (19)
  • The team's top three wideouts—DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, and Jason Avant—have combined for only 3 drops.

    Blog text (18)
  • The quarterback relied on his trusted wideout to make the catch near the sideline.

Synonyms

end
vswideout
  • Jargon
145 7.4

A player positioned at the side of the line in American football

focuses on catching passes near the sideline rather than just occupying line edge
split end
vswideout
  • US
1 7.3

A player who stands wide to catch passes for the team on offense

lines up specifically near the sideline rather than away from linemen
pass catcher
vswideout
  • Jargon
1 5.4

A player who receives forward passes, like a wide receiver or tight end

is the sideline specialist among those who catch forward passes
flanker back
vswideout
  • Jargon
7.7

An American football player who stands near the sideline to catch passes

lines up nearer the sideline rather than just wide of the line
pass receiver
vswideout
  • Jargon
3.9

A football player who catches passes from the quarterback

has the same catching role but specifically plays near the sideline

Surface Forms

wideout singular
wideouts plural

Morphology

wideout = wide (semi-transparent) = out + wide

The components 'wide' + 'out' clearly indicate being positioned toward the sideline, but the term is specialized American football jargon denoting a particular player role, so it is not fully transparent to general learners. [Postprocessing: moved 'out' from base_words to prefix]

Etymology

Wideout comes from the two simple words wide ('broad' or 'far from the middle') and out ('away' or 'toward the sideline'), so it pictures a player standing wide on the field. That's why a wideout is the football player who lines up near the sideline to catch passes.