field goal

noun

1

: a score of three points in football made by drop-kicking or placekicking the ball over the crossbar from ordinary play

2

: a goal in basketball made while the ball is in play

Examples of field goal in a Sentence

He kicked a 20-yard field goal.

Recent Examples on the Web

Though unlikely, Chiefs opponents made 31 of 32 field goals last season (97 percent). — Jesse Newell, New York Times, 15 July 2026

Ogwumike reached 3,000 career field goals early in the fourth on a 3-pointer. — ABC News, 11 July 2026

Her first field goal was a layup with less than three minutes left to cut the Valkyries’ lead to six points before Salaün’s trio of triples. — Michael Nowels, Mercury News, 9 July 2026

James already has the NBA regular season records for most games (1,622) and minutes (61,030) played, as well as career points (43,440) and field goals made (15,961) and attempted (31,502). — Tim Casey, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1883, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for field goal

• bankroll
• bedroll
• borehole
• cajole
• catchpole
• charcoal
• condole
• control
• dipole
• downhole
• enroll
• extol

Kids Definition

field goal

noun

1

: a score of three points in football made by kicking the ball over the crossbar during ordinary play

2

: basket sense 3b