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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

gridiron.

An instrument of torture on which people were secured before being burned by fire.

8 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈɡɹɪdaɪən/UK
  1. An instrument of torture on which people were secured before being burned by fire.

  2. An iron rack or grate used for broiling meat and fish over coals.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English gridirne, gredirne, gredyron, gredeyron, grydern, grydyryne, girdirin, girderen, variants of Middle English gredire, gredyre, itself an alteration of Middle English gridel (“griddle”). The ending was assimilated to iron, as if from grid + iron, whence grid was later derived.

noun/ˈɡɹɪdaɪən/UK
  1. Any object resembling the rack or grate.

    countable · uncountable
  2. An openwork frame on which vessels are placed for examination, cleaning, and repairs.

    countable · uncountable
  3. A raised framework from which lighting is suspended.

    countable · uncountable
  4. The field on which American football is played.

    countable · uncountable
  5. American and Canadian football, particularly when used to distinguish from other codes of football.

    Australia · New-Zealand · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From resembling the shape of a gridiron (a square rectilinear grid).

verb/ˈɡɹɪdaɪən/UK
  1. To mark or cover with lines; to crisscross.

  2. To purchase land so that the remaining adjacent sections are smaller than the minimum area purchasable as freehold, thus excluding potential freeholders.

    New-Zealand · historical
Where this word comes from

From resembling the shape of a gridiron (a square rectilinear grid).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.