first down

noun

plural first downs

1

: the first of a series of usually four downs (see down entry 5 sense 3a) in which a football team must net a 10-yard gain to retain possession of the ball

2

: a gain of a total of 10 or more yards within usually four downs giving the team the right to start a new series of downs

Examples of first down in a Sentence

They have first down on the 20-yard line.

The pass was completed for a first down.

Recent Examples on the Web

On 3rd-and-8 at the Chiefs’ 45-yard line, Dak Prescott found Pickens cutting inside before the first down marker. —Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 28 Nov. 2025

Green Bay got one first down, but the Lions put the Packers in a fourth-and-3 from the Detroit 45. —CBS News, 28 Nov. 2025

That’d be enough for Hollingsworth, Anton Sodervall and the rest of the defense, which didn’t give up a first down in the third quarter. —Matt Goisman, Boston Herald, 27 Nov. 2025

Tetairoa McMillan only caught two of his seven targets — for 35 yards and a score — but also dropped a pass early on in the first half that would’ve been a first down and failed to haul at least one other catchable ball. —Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 25 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1885, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for first down

• adown
• blowdown
• breakdown
• countdown
• crackdown
• crosstown
• downtown
• drawdown
• dropdown
• facedown
• godown
• hometown