Entertainment / Football / Gridiron: Either (a) the field of play; a football field; or (b) the game itself, now often used to distinguish among football (soccer), rugby union, rugby league, and American football. The word derives from the same root as griddle, meaning a 'lattice.' The original field was marked in a grid of crisscrossed lines; the ball would be snapped in the grid in which it was downed on the previous play. In modern usage, a gridiron—whether in cooking or football—is considered a surface with parallel lines.
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