Yardage is a measurement of distance in yards, particularly the total length or amount of something. In football, a running back who gains 150 yards in a game has accumulated impressive yardage by carrying the ball down the field. A quarterback's passing yardage shows how many yards their completed throws traveled.

The word also means fabric measured by the yard (three feet). When someone buys yardage at a fabric store, they're purchasing cloth by length: “I need two yards of blue cotton” means they want six feet of fabric. A seamstress calculating how much material she needs for curtains is figuring out the required yardage.

In golf, yardage tells players how far they need to hit the ball to reach the green. A golfer might say “this hole is 380 yards” or check the yardage to a sand trap before choosing which club to use. Knowing the yardage helps athletes and craftspeople plan their approach: too little and you fall short, too much and you overshoot.