Dictionary

man-mark en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• /ˈmænmɑːk/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈmænmɑɹk/ (General-American)

Meanings

1. (transitive) To mark an opposition player closely.
   • Our manager Don Megson had given me the job of man-marking George Best, so we were both a little disappointed, shall we say, that he scored after only 71 seconds. 2012, Ivan Ponting, quoting Frankie Prince, George Best: The Extraordinary Story of a Footballing Genius, London: Simon & Schuster UK, →ISBN:
   • No, and I still hate him. This is for you. He's going to be man-marked. He won't be allowed anywhere near you. I'll rip him to pieces if he tries anything funny, […] 2010, Lars Husum, translated by Mette Petersen, My Friend Jesus Christ, London: Portobello Books, →ISBN:
   • It was my last round up against Noel O'Leary. He was rolled out to man-mark me again at the last minute. […] While the Cork manager might have felt he was negating my influence on the game by man-marking me with a secret last-minute selection, in reality we were always using the arrangement to our advantage. 2014, Paul Galvin, “The Start of Something”, in In My Own Words: The Autobiography, London: Transworld Ireland, Transworld Publishers, →ISBN; Transworld Ireland paperback edition, London: Transworld Ireland, Transworld Publishers, 2015, →ISBN, page 207:
   • In the most extreme form of man-marking, each player has a pre-established opponent to be followed and to be man-marked, from a more or less short distance, wherever he goes. The main objective of the defender is to steal the ball from his opponent if he receives it, or to place him in a threatened condition, thus forcing him to immediately get rid of the ball. 2003, Floriano Marziali, Vincenzo Mora, “The Factors in a Soccer Player’s Performance”, in Bryan R. Beaver, editor, The Zone, Spring City, Pa.: Reedswain Publishing, →ISBN, page 34:
   • If Rangers want to put someone on me, fine. If a team man-marks you that just pulls people out of position. I can go in and sit at centre-half which suits me. If my man-marker wants to play centre-forward, it's fine. 2018 April 29, Scott McDermott, “‘They told me I was finished’: Celtic skipper Scott Brown having the last laugh at his critics”, in Daily Record, archived from the original on 15 Nov 2025:
   • When the team might have tired from that hard-running style they have had days to rest. When first Sam Allardyce and then José Mourinho exposed a certain weakness against a two-man attack, and also when the "supply" players, [Eden] Hazard and Pedro, were man-marked, [Antonio] Conte had a week to drill his team and patch this up. 2017 May 13, Barney Ronay, “Antonio Conte’s brilliance has turned Chelsea’s pop-up team into champions”, in The Guardian, London, archived from the original on 09 Sep 2017:

Forms

Deriveds

man-marker · man-marking

Relateds

man-on-man

Translations (6)

pt marcar (to mark an opposition player closely) · sv punkta (to mark an opposition player closely) · gl marcar (to mark an opposition player closely) · sv punktmarkera (to mark an opposition player closely) · da mandsopdække (to mark an opposition player closely) · fi merkata (to mark an opposition player closely)