Meaning & use
slide tackle
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Meanings
nouncountablesport
In soccer, a tackle in which a player slides along the ground to take the ball away from an opponent.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a slide tackle' or 'two slide tackles'.
Patterns
- make a slide tackle
- a slide tackle on someone
The defender made a perfectly timed slide tackle to stop the attack.
He was booked for a slide tackle from behind.
Her slide tackle won the ball cleanly and started a counterattack.
verbtransitive or intransitivesportinformal
To tackle an opponent in soccer by sliding along the ground.
Grammar: Can be used with or without an object: 'He slide-tackled the winger' or 'He slide-tackled dangerously'.
Patterns
- slide-tackle someone
- slide-tackle for the ball
The midfielder slide-tackled the striker just outside the box.
If you slide-tackle like that, you will hurt someone.
He slide-tackled the ball away and then passed it forward.
Word forms
| plural | slide tackles |
|---|---|
| third person singular | slide-tackles |
| past tense | slide-tackled |
| past participle | slide-tackled |
| -ing form | slide-tackling |
Common combinations
- make a slide tackle
- The fullback made a slide tackle to deny a clear goal-scoring chance.
- a perfectly timed slide tackle
- It was a perfectly timed slide tackle that won the ball without touching the player.
- a reckless slide tackle
- The referee sent him off for a reckless slide tackle.
- slide tackle from behind
- Slide tackles from behind are often punished with a red card.
- win the ball with a slide tackle
- She won the ball with a slide tackle and immediately played it forward.
Synonyms and how they differ
- tackle
- A more general word for any attempt to take the ball from an opponent, whether standing or sliding.
- challenge
- Often used in sports reports for a tackle that may be fair or unfair; it is slightly more formal than 'slide tackle'.
- lunge
- A sudden forward movement to tackle; it emphasizes the movement rather than the sliding technique.
Word family
Commonly confused: slide tackle or sliding tackle? slide tackle or slide rule?
slide tackle vs sliding tackle
This is a less common variant of 'slide tackle'; both are correct, but 'slide tackle' is the usual form.
slide tackle vs slide rule
A slide rule is an old calculating tool, not a sports move.
Practice
The defender ______ the winger just outside the penalty area, but the referee did not blow his whistle.
Choose one answer.
The past tense 'slide-tackled' fits because the action happened at a specific time in the past. 'Slide-tackle' is the base form and would be wrong after 'the defender' in a past narrative; 'slide-tackling' would need a helping verb like 'was'; 'slide-tackles' is present tense and does not match the past time reference.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “slide tackle”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.