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melina

time-wasting

noun meh-LEE-nah Rare

Also means

stalling tactic

Usage Note

Melina is a colloquial football term for the tactic of keeping the ball circulating among defenders to waste time and protect a lead. By extension it means any deliberate stalling — fare melina in a meeting or negotiation. It is feminine and has a regular plural meline, though the singular dominates in idiomatic use.

Examples

"La squadra ha fatto melina negli ultimi minuti."

Natural Translation

The team time-wasted in the final minutes.

Literal Translation

The team did time-wasting in-the last minutes.

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