Slang

quarterback

This page is about the slang term quarterback

American English

Meaning

to lead and make decisions

For example

  • We need someone who can quarterback the sales team when they go to trade fairs.

  • Who's going to quarterback Monday's staff meeting?

Origin: From American football, or gridiron, in which the quarterback is the player who leads the team during offensive moves.

Variety

This is typically used in American English but may be used in other varieties of English too.

Quick Quiz

Bob will be quarterbacking our reps during the negotiations, so he'll be the one who

a. makes final decisions

b. books hotels and flights

c. records details of the meetings
a) makes final decisions b) books hotels and flights c) records details of the meetings

See Slang of the Day today

Contributor: Matt Errey