tackle

12 definitions • 14 examples

to try to deal with something or someone:

There are many ways of tackling this problem.

tackle someone about something I tackled him about his careless work.

(especially in football or hockey) to try to take the ball from a player in the other team, or (in rugby or American football) to do this by taking hold of the player and making them fall:

Barnes tackled Johnson just as she was about to shoot.

The full-back was tackled by two players but held onto the ball.

(especially in football or hockey) an act of tackling someone

in American football, one of the players on offence or defence that line up near the middle of the line of players on the line of scrimmage (= the place where the ball is positioned at the beginning of a period of action):

The right tackle broke through the line and forced the quarterback to scramble.

all the objects needed for a particular activity:

fishing tackle

the male sexual organs

to catch and knock down someone who is running, esp. in the game of football:

All four players were unable to tackle the quarterback before he scored a touchdown.

to attack or to deal with something:

There are many ways of tackling this problem.

the equipment used in fishing or to lift or raise things on a ship

an act of knocking someone down, or a football player who is supposed to do this:

A flying tackle brought him down.

He’s an offensive/defensive tackle.

to try to deal with something:

The first thing the new government must do is to tackle inflation.

tackle a crisis/question/problem

I felt that the whole subject was too sensitive to tackle.

to talk to someone about a difficult situation, usually because you disagree with them:

tackle sb on/about sth I was determined to tackle my boss on the way I had been treated.