Tackle

How to spell tackle

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce tackle

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does tackle mean?

1. verbTo make a determined effort to deal with a problem or difficult task.
2. verbTo stop an opposing player by seizing or knocking them to the ground, especially in rugby or football.
3. nounThe equipment used for a particular activity, especially the rods, lines, and hooks used in fishing.

Tackle in a sentence

• verb

  The team met early to tackle the backlog of unanswered emails.

• verb

  The defender moved quickly to tackle the striker near the goal.

• noun

  He packed his fishing tackle into the boot before dawn.

• verb

  She decided to tackle the messiest room in the house first.

• verb

  He was shown a card for trying to tackle from behind.

• noun

  The shop sells bait, rods, and other tackle for the river.

Where does tackle come from?

Language of origin: Dutch

Tackle entered English in the 1200s from the language of sailors and traders around the North Sea, most likely borrowed from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch 'takel', a word for a ship's rigging and the ropes and pulleys used to hoist sails and cargo. The underlying sense was 'equipment for grasping or hauling', tied to the idea of laying hold of something, and that grasping sense never fully left the word. From the gear of a ship it broadened to mean equipment in general, which is why anglers still speak of their fishing tackle. The physical 'lay hold of and bring down' meaning produced the sporting sense in rugby and football during the 1800s, and from there came the familiar figurative sense of seizing and dealing with a problem. The doubled 'ck' simply reflects the short 'a' before it, and the silent-looking '-le' ending is the same one seen in 'buckle' and 'knuckle'.

How the word is built

• tack (Low German/Dutch root for rigging or gear)
• -le (noun/verb ending)