Usage
The word gridiron alone can refer either to the field or to the sport. In North America, however, it is mostly used in reference to the field, usually in a somewhat figurative or poetic sense (e.g. "the players are getting set to battle it out on the gridiron".) In some other English-speaking countries—particularly Australia and New Zealand—it is the primary term used to refer to the sport, differentiating it from other forms of football such as Australian football, association football, rugby league, and rugby union. In British parlance the most frequently used term is American football, but gridiron is also used to describe the game.
Read more about this topic: Gridiron Football
Famous quotes containing the word usage:
“I am using it [the word ‘perceive’] here in such a way that to say of an object that it is perceived does not entail saying that it exists in any sense at all. And this is a perfectly correct and familiar usage of the word.”
—A.J. (Alfred Jules)
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The loftiest minds outrun their tardy ages.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)
“...Often the accurate answer to a usage question begins, “It depends.” And what it depends on most often is where you are, who you are, who your listeners or readers are, and what your purpose in speaking or writing is.”
—Kenneth G. Wilson (b. 1923)