running back

Also found in: Thesaurus, Acronyms, Idioms, Wikipedia.

running back

n. Football

An offensive back, such as a fullback or halfback, who has the responsibility of advancing the ball by running with it on plays from the line of scrimmage.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

run′ning back`

n.
Football.

an offensive back, as a halfback or fullback, whose principal role is advancing the ball by running with it on plays from scrimmage.

running back

Halfback or fullback who carries the ball.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun

running back - (football) a back on the offensive team (a fullback or halfback) who tries to advance the ball by carrying it on plays from the line of scrimmage

football, football game - any of various games played with a ball (round or oval) in which two teams try to kick or carry or propel the ball into each other's goal

back - (football) a person who plays in the backfield

fullback - (football) the running back who plays the fullback position on the offensive team

halfback - (football) the running back who plays the offensive halfback position

References in classic literature ?

By day, one could admire the variety of its edifices, all sculptured in stone or wood, and already presenting complete specimens of the different domestic architectures of the Middle Ages, running back from the fifteenth to the eleventh century, from the casement which had begun to dethrone the arch, to the Roman semicircle, which had been supplanted by the ogive, and which still occupies, below it, the first story of that ancient house de la Tour Roland, at the corner of the Place upon the Seine, on the side of the street with the Tannerie.

View in context

The two houses were separated by an ordinary yard, with a low fence running back through its middle from the street in front to the lane in the rear.

View in context

There- they are shouting again, and again are all running back somewhere, and I shall run with them, and it, death, is here above me and around...

View in context

"A tiger!" ejaculated Tom, as he began once more to change the charge in his rifle to a larger one, running back, meanwhile, in the direction of the sound of the voice.

View in context

The Pro Bowl running back is on the did not report list after missing training camp and the preseason.

Chargers, RB Gordon suspend contract talks

Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch, who helped the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl crown, will not not return to action next season, ESPN and the NFL Network reported Wednesday.

NFL: Raiders running back reportedly retiring again

Cierre Wood, 28, who played college football at Notre Dame as a running back and was also a member of practice squads with the Houston Texans, New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks, and Buffalo Bills, was arrested after the death of his girlfriend Amy Taylor's 5-year-old daughter, reports the (https://nypost.com/2019/04/11/cierre-wood-former-notre-dame-star-arrested-after-girlfriends-daughter-dies/) New York Post.

Former NFL Player Arrested For Child Abuse

"One of the final four teams in the NFL playoffs took a running back in the first round, Leonard Fournette of Jacksonville," Kiper said.

Mel Kiper Jr. thinks Royce Freeman could fall to "fourth or fifth round" of NFL Draft due to depth of running backs Freeman might slidein draft

Senior captains Matt Faucher, who plays quarterback, running back and linebacker, and Carter Craft, who plays offensive line and linebacker, as well as senior running back-defensive back Treva Hemingway and junior tight end/defensive end Chris Roach are all expected back from injuries.

Blackstone-Millville at Sutton

He will likely be the number one option at running back since Dyer is ineligible for this season.