blocking and tackling
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Fundamental or basic aspects of a task or project
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
khía cạnh cơ bản hoặc nền tảng của một nhiệm vụ hoặc dự án
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: football terms for basic defensive actions
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The team's success was due to their focus on blocking and tackling
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “blocking and tackling” mean?
Fundamental or basic aspects of a task or project Literally: football terms for basic defensive actions
Is “blocking and tackling” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.