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"Smashmouth" crashed its way into the English language during the 1984 football season to describe the brutally hard-hitting play that is characteristic of the game. It has since been used to describe similar physicality in other contact sports, such as hockey and basketball, and has even forced its way out of the realm of sports into politics; we’ve been using it to describe hardball tactics in politics since the 1984 U.S. presidential election. However, this political application of "smashmouth" has yet to make it into the end zone. It occurs too rarely in English to merit its own sense in the dictionary.

Examples

Monday night's game, between two teams known for their hard-hitting, aggressive styles, promises to be entertaining if you like smashmouth football.

"The Tigers earned the win behind a smashmouth rushing attack and a passing game that was effective when it needed to be." - From an article by sportswriter Kyle Kendrick in The Ponca City News (Oklahoma), September 23, 2012