[foot.ball] n (15c) 1: any of several games played between two teams on a rectangular field having two goalposts at each end and whose object is to get the ball over a goal line or between goalposts by running, passing, or kicking: as a Brit: soccer b Brit: rugby c: an American game played between two teams of 11 players each in which the ball is in possession of one side at a time and is advanced by running or passing d Austral: australian rules football e Canad: canadian football
2. a: an inflated oval ball used in the game of football b Brit: a soccer ball
3: something treated roughly esp. as the subject of a prolonged dispute "the issue became a political ~ in Congress" -- foot.ball.er n