touchdown
noun
Simple meaning
A six-point score occurring when the ball enters possession of a team's player in the opponent's end zone.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
tuhchdownSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈtʌtʃdaʊn
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
American footballCanadian football
A six-point score occurring when the ball enters possession of a team's player in the opponent's end zone.
aviation
A landing (as the wheels touch the landing field); especially of airplanes
rugby
A try (scoring play of grounding the ball in the opposing team's in-goal).
The moment of contact of a tornado with the ground.
aviation
The moment when an aircraft or spacecraft makes first or final contact with the ground during a landing.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (American football, Canadian football) A six-point score occurring when the ball enters possession of a team's player in the opponent's end zone.
Used this way, touchdown is a word tied to one variety of English that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a sporting use: familiar to anyone who follows the game, and puzzling to anyone who does not.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Regional
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Uncommon in everyday speech
Where it naturally appears
- Sports
- News/reporting
- Everyday conversation
Usage note
Mainly used in American English, so it may read as unusual elsewhere.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use touchdown
- “Our team scored a touchdown in the final minute.”noun
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
In American football a point awarded for a successful place kick following a touchdown.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- kickernoun
- quarterbacknoun
- rushingnoun
- kickoffnoun
- puntverb
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Keep learning “touchdown” by choosing the kind of practice you need next.
- Practice sentence writingWrite sentences with vocabulary and get instant feedback.
- Practice in contextAnswer short vocabulary questions drawn from real situations.
- Review vocabularyTest your recall and strengthen words over time.
- Practice typingType vocabulary in short rounds that draw from words you've learned and saved.
Want to type words like this one without looking at the keyboard? Each typing round draws from words you've learned, saved or need to review. Follow the free Learn to Type lessons and type your own vocabulary with confidence.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.