touchback

noun

touch·​back ˈtəch-ˌbak 

plural touchbacks

: a situation in football that typically occurs when the ball is downed (see down entry 3 sense 2) behind the goal line (as after a kickoff or punt) and that results in the team that is defending the goal putting the ball back in play on its own 20- or 25-yard line

Touchbacks on kickoffs will be moved to the 25-yard line, from the 20, to give teams an incentive not to run the ball out of the end zone, one of the most dangerous plays in the game.

—Ken Belson

The punter landed 27% of his kicks inside the 20-yard line while only four ended up in the endzone for a touchback.

—Branson Nash

compare safety sense 3a(1)

Examples of touchback in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Nighthawks’ scoring was capped off with a 49-yard field goal by senior kicker Mateo Orosco, who also had six kick-offs land in the end zone for touchbacks. —The San Diego Union Tribune, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Sep. 2025

This came at the expense of exciting returns, potentially for touchdowns, and made the play more of a formality than anything, as most teams would simply kneel for touchbacks in their end zone. —Armon Sadler, VIBE.com, 16 Sep. 2025

The new touchback spot, however, has changed the calculus. —Lev Akabas, Sportico.com, 16 Sep. 2025

The problem last season was many teams still opted to kick the ball in the end zone because the touchback wasn't punitive enough. —Shane Croucher, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1884, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for touchback

• aback
• anzac
• attack
• backpack
• backtrack
• bareback
• blackjack
• brownback
• buyback
• callback
• cognac
• comeback

Kids Definition

touchback

noun

touch·​back ˈtəch-ˌbak 

: the act of downing a football behind the goal line after receiving a kick or intercepting a pass