nose tackle

Meaning

1. 1nouncountablesportAmerican

   In American football, the defensive lineman who lines up in the middle, opposite the offense's center.

   Grammar: Countable: a nose tackle, two nose tackles.

   Patterns

   • play nose tackle

   The nose tackle usually weighs over three hundred pounds and clogs the middle of the field.

   Our coach moved him to nose tackle because he was so hard to push back.

   A good nose tackle often gets few tackles but frees up teammates to make them.

Word forms

Common combinations

star nose tackle

The star nose tackle was named best defender of the season.

play nose tackle

He started to play nose tackle in high school.

stuff the run

The nose tackle helped stuff the run on third down.

draft a nose tackle

The team wants to draft a nose tackle in the first round.

double-team the nose tackle

Opponents double-team the nose tackle to open lanes for the runner.

Synonyms and how they differ

nose guard

Nose guard is a nearly identical term used mostly in older writing and some leagues, with the same position.

defensive tackle

Defensive tackle is the broader position; a nose tackle is a particular defensive tackle who lines up over the center.

defensive lineman

Defensive lineman covers all players on the defensive line, so it is much more general.

Word family

tackle verb

to bring down a player with the ball

tackle noun

a player on the line, or the act of stopping an opponent

nose noun

here, the front tip of the offensive line formation

tackler noun

a player who tackles

Commonly confused: nose tackle or defensive end?

Practice

Make it your own

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