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Touchdown

 - 3 dictionary results

touch⋅down

[tuhch-doun]
–noun
1. Football. an act or instance of scoring six points by being in possession of the ball on or behind the opponent's goal line.
2. Rugby. the act of a player who touches the ball on or to the ground inside his own in-goal.
3. the act or the moment of landing: the aircraft's touchdown.

Origin:
1860–65; touch + down 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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touch·down   (tŭch'doun')   
n.  
  1. Abbr. TD Football An act of carrying, receiving, or gaining possession of the ball across the opponent's goal line for a score of six points.

  2. The contact, or moment of contact, of a landing aircraft or spacecraft with the landing surface.


[From the earlier practice of touching the ball to the ground behind the goal line.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

touchdown 
1864, from touch (v.) + down (adv.). Originally in rugby, where the ball is lit. touched down on the other side of the goal.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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