gridiron

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The field of play.
• noun The game itself.
• noun A metal structure high above the stage of a theater, from which ropes or cables are strung to scenery and lights.
• noun A flat framework of parallel metal bars used for broiling meat or fish.
• noun An object resembling such a framework.

from The Century Dictionary.

• To cover with parallel lines or bars, like those of a gridiron: often said of railroads, as giving such an appearance to the map.
• noun A grated utensil for broiling flesh and fish over coals or in front of a fire-grate, usually a square frame with a handle, short legs, and transverse bars.
• noun A frame formed of cross-beams of wood or iron, on which a ship rests for inspection or repair at low water; a grid.
• noun In Amer. foot-ball, a trivial term applied to the field of play, in allusion to the fact that it is crossed by transverse white lines every five yards. It is also sometimes called a checker-board, because recent rules provide for longitudinal lines as well.
• noun A structure of planks erected above the stage of a theater to support the mechanism by which the drop-scenes, etc., are worked.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun A grated iron utensil for broiling flesh and fish over coals.
• noun (Naut.) An openwork frame on which vessels are placed for examination, cleaning, and repairs.
• noun (Sport) A football field; -- so called because of the resemblance of the parallel marked yard lines to a gridiron{1}.
• noun See under Pendulum.
• noun (Steam Engine) a slide valve with several parallel perforations corresponding to openings in the seat on which the valve moves.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun uncountable American football.
• noun A generic term for American and Canadian football, particularly when used to distinguish from other codes of football.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a cooking utensil of parallel metal bars; used to grill fish or meat
• noun the playing field on which football is played