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Glite Dictionary
Aussie rules football

Aussie rules football

6.6
A fast Australian game where teams kick an oval ball between goalposts to score
  • noun
  • Australian
translation icon : fútbol australiano
  • Aussie rules football is popular in Australia, where many fans gather to watch the matches each weekend.

Examples

  • During the summer, he enjoys playing Aussie rules football with his friends at the local park.

  • The rules of Aussie rules football are unique, incorporating elements from both rugby and soccer.

  • They have Aussie rules football, which I think is something like Gaelic football.

    Blog text (9)

Synonyms

footy
vsAussie rules football
  • Australian
6 7.7

A casual name for the game of football, like soccer or Australian rules

is the specific fast oval-field sport with eighteen players and goalposts

Surface Forms

Aussie rules football singular
Aussie rules footballs plural

Morphology

Aussie + rule + football

The meaning 'a particular code of football played in Australia' is directly derivable from combining 'Aussie' (Australian) + 'rules' (a set of regulations or a style) + 'football' (the sport). The pattern nationality + rules + sport is compositional and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would reasonably infer it refers to the Australian form of football.

Etymology

Aussie rules football gets its name from 1850s Australia, when players in Melbourne made a new set of rules for a winter game to keep cricketers fit. That's why the name refers to the particular kind of football played under those Australian rules.