line of scrimmage
16
6.2
- noun
- /laɪn əv ˈskrɪmɪdʒ/
- Jargon
:
línea de scrimmage
- The quarterback stood behind the line of scrimmage as he prepared to pass the ball.
Fans watch the ball, OK, coaches watch the line of scrimmage.
- Fans watch the ball, OK, coaches watch the line of scrimmage.
- But when Steve was just dogging Hill at the line of scrimmage, bodied him.
Examples
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Control the line of scrimmage, you control the game.
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For 60 solid minutes, we dominated the line of scrimmage... on both sides of the ball.
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Hit at the line of scrimmage.
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We're not very big on the line of scrimmage on either side of the ball.
Blog text (10) -
"After I beat him off the line of scrimmage, yeah, it was my play," he said.
Blog text (5) -
So what we're trying to do here, again, is move the line of scrimmage.
Blog text (6) -
Let the ball fall incomplete, and the ball is turned over at the line of scrimmage.
Blog text (15) -
Joe Montana steps to the line of scrimmage, drops back to throw, and then...
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The Midshipmen should be able to control the line of scrimmage and open up running lanes.
Blog text (4) -
The Wolverines are controlling the line of scrimmage against De La Salle.
Synonyms
A line on the field where players line up before each play
Surface Forms
Morphology
Knowing 'line' (a boundary or division) and 'scrimmage' (a practice game or contested play) gives a learner a reasonable intuition that this is a boundary related to a scrimmage, but the precise technical sense — an imaginary line where teams must line up at the start of each play — is sports-specific jargon and not fully predictable from the parts alone. The meaning is partly compositional but requires domain knowledge of American football, so it is only partially transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Line of scrimmage comes from the idea of an invisible line on the field where the two teams meet before a play. The word scrimmage once meant a rough fight, so the phrase shows the place where the action will begin. That's why line of scrimmage means the place 'where the teams line up at the start of each play'.