: a run made in football after catching an opponent's kick or intercepting a pass
Examples of runback in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
With Ritt’s runback with 1:03 left in the fourth quarter, coach Chuck Kyle called for a 2-point conversion.
—
Matt Goul, cleveland, 5 Nov. 2022
Two epic plays: James Harrison’s 100-yard interception runback for a touchdown as the clock ran out in the first half and Santonio Holmes’ unbelievable catch of a Ben Roethlisberger pass to win the game in the waning seconds.
—Al Michaels, Los Angeles Times, 2 Feb. 2022
Auburn hasn’t allowed many big returns on either kickoffs or punts and doesn’t return punts particularly well, but kickoff return man Nehemiah Pritchett saved the Tigers with a 72-yard runback vs. Georgia State.
—Creg Stephenson | Cstephenson@al.com, al, 24 Nov. 2021
Fleurima, a senior, scored his first career return touchdown with a 32-yard runback in the first quarter.
—Patrick Z. McGavin, chicagotribune.com, 16 Oct. 2021
The fourth-round draft pick out of Iowa State scored on a 99-yard runback last week at San Francisco to become the first NFL player with multiple kickoff return touchdowns in a season since Cordarrelle Patterson had two for the Vikings in 2016.
—Mark Heim | Mheim@al.com, al, 5 Dec. 2021
Thorne threw an interception on an end-of-half Hail Mary attempt that nearly turned into a big play for the Terps until his tackle on the runback.
—Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press, 13 Nov. 2021
The speedster had a 2-yard punt return and a 22-yard runback on a kickoff.
—Eric Branch, San Francisco Chronicle, 7 Nov. 2021
Cannon had a 29-yard runback on his lone return Sunday and, on kickoff coverage, upended Jakeem Grant for his fifth solo special-teams tackle, the most on the team.
—Eric Branch, San Francisco Chronicle, 2 Nov. 2021
Matt Goul, cleveland, 5 Nov. 2022
Two epic plays: James Harrison’s 100-yard interception runback for a touchdown as the clock ran out in the first half and Santonio Holmes’ unbelievable catch of a Ben Roethlisberger pass to win the game in the waning seconds.
—Al Michaels, Los Angeles Times, 2 Feb. 2022
Auburn hasn’t allowed many big returns on either kickoffs or punts and doesn’t return punts particularly well, but kickoff return man Nehemiah Pritchett saved the Tigers with a 72-yard runback vs. Georgia State.
—Creg Stephenson | Cstephenson@al.com, al, 24 Nov. 2021
Fleurima, a senior, scored his first career return touchdown with a 32-yard runback in the first quarter.
—Patrick Z. McGavin, chicagotribune.com, 16 Oct. 2021
The fourth-round draft pick out of Iowa State scored on a 99-yard runback last week at San Francisco to become the first NFL player with multiple kickoff return touchdowns in a season since Cordarrelle Patterson had two for the Vikings in 2016.
—Mark Heim | Mheim@al.com, al, 5 Dec. 2021
Thorne threw an interception on an end-of-half Hail Mary attempt that nearly turned into a big play for the Terps until his tackle on the runback.
—Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press, 13 Nov. 2021
The speedster had a 2-yard punt return and a 22-yard runback on a kickoff.
—Eric Branch, San Francisco Chronicle, 7 Nov. 2021
Cannon had a 29-yard runback on his lone return Sunday and, on kickoff coverage, upended Jakeem Grant for his fifth solo special-teams tackle, the most on the team.
—Eric Branch, San Francisco Chronicle, 2 Nov. 2021
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'runback.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near runback
Cite this Entry
“Runback.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/runback. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
runback
noun
run·back
ˈrən-ˌbak 
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share