: a run made in football after catching an opponent's kick or intercepting a pass
Examples of runback in a Sentence
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With Ritt’s runback with 1:03 left in the fourth quarter, coach Chuck Kyle called for a 2-point conversion.
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Matt Goul, cleveland, 5 Nov. 2022
Two epic plays: James Harrison’s 100-yard interception runback for a touchdown as the clock ran out in the first half and Santonio Holmes’ unbelievable catch of a Ben Roethlisberger pass to win the game in the waning seconds.
—Al Michaels, Los Angeles Times, 2 Feb. 2022
The fourth-round draft pick out of Iowa State scored on a 99-yard runback last week at San Francisco to become the first NFL player with multiple kickoff return touchdowns in a season since Cordarrelle Patterson had two for the Vikings in 2016.
—Mark Heim | Mheim@al.com, al, 5 Dec. 2021
Thorne threw an interception on an end-of-half Hail Mary attempt that nearly turned into a big play for the Terps until his tackle on the runback.
—Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press, 13 Nov. 2021
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Matt Goul, cleveland, 5 Nov. 2022
Two epic plays: James Harrison’s 100-yard interception runback for a touchdown as the clock ran out in the first half and Santonio Holmes’ unbelievable catch of a Ben Roethlisberger pass to win the game in the waning seconds.
—Al Michaels, Los Angeles Times, 2 Feb. 2022
The fourth-round draft pick out of Iowa State scored on a 99-yard runback last week at San Francisco to become the first NFL player with multiple kickoff return touchdowns in a season since Cordarrelle Patterson had two for the Vikings in 2016.
—Mark Heim | Mheim@al.com, al, 5 Dec. 2021
Thorne threw an interception on an end-of-half Hail Mary attempt that nearly turned into a big play for the Terps until his tackle on the runback.
—Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press, 13 Nov. 2021
See All Example Sentences for runback
Cite this Entry
“Runback.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/runback. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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runback
noun
run·back
ˈrən-ˌbak 
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