double

PIE word
 *dwóh₁
From Middle English double, from Old French doble, double, from Latin duplus (“twofold”). Doublet of doppio and duple.

The catcher hit a double to lead off the ninth.


double

en-verb

double (third-person singular simple present doubles, present participle doubling, simple past and past participle doubled)

doubles (present singular third-person)
doubling (participle present)
doubled (participle past)
doubled (past)

The batter doubled into the corner.


cannon

en-noun

cannon (countable and uncountable, plural cannons or (mainly UK) cannon)

cannons (plural)
cannon (UK mainly plural)

Attested from around 1400 as Middle English canon, canoun, from Old French canon, from Italian cannone, from Latin canna, from Ancient Greek κάννα (kánna, “reed”), from Akkadian 𒄀 (qanû, “reed”), from Sumerian 𒄀𒈾 (gi.na). Doublet of canyon.
This spelling was not fixed until about 1800.

He’s got a cannon out in right.

(baseball, figuratively, informal) The arm of a player who can throw well.


batsman

batswoman

batsman; when is treated as both male and female


poke

From Middle English poken, perhaps from Middle Dutch poken or Middle Low German poken, both from Proto-West Germanic *pukōn or similar, which is itself of uncertain origin, but may be from an imitative Proto-Germanic root *puk-. Doublet of poach.

onomatopoeic

imitative

better than a poke in the eye with a burnt stick

better than a poke in the eye with a rusty nail

better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick

better than a poke in the eye with a shitty stick

(baseball, slang) A hit, especially an extra base hit.


battery

en-noun

battery (countable and uncountable, plural batteries)

Korean: 배터리 (baeteori)

Borrowed from Middle French batterie, from Old French baterie (“action of beating”), from batre (“battre”), from Latin battuō (“beat”), from Gaulish. Doublet of batterie.

der

(baseball) The catcher and the pitcher together


squeeze

en-verb

squeeze (third-person singular simple present squeezes, present participle squeezing, simple past squeezed or (nonstandard) squoze, past participle squeezed or (nonstandard) squozen)

squeezes (present singular third-person)
squeezing (participle present)
squeezed (past)
squoze (nonstandard past)
squeezed (participle past)
squozen (nonstandard participle past)

From earlier squize, squise (whence also dialectal English squizzen and squeege), first attested around 1600, further origin uncertain; probably an alteration of quease (which is attested since 1550), from Middle English queisen (“to squeeze”), from Old English cwēsan, cwȳsan (“to crush, squeeze”), itself also of unknown origin, perhaps imitative (compare Swedish qväsa, kväsa (“to squeeze, bruise, crush; quell”), Dutch kwetsen (“to injure, hurt”), German quetschen (“to squeeze”)). Or, a blend of obsolete squiss (“to squeeze”) (whence also squash and squish) with quease. Compare also French esquicher from Old Occitan esquichar (“to press, squeeze”).
The slang expression "to put the squeeze on (someone or something)", meaning "to exert influence", is from 1711. The baseball term "squeeze play" is first recorded 1905. "Main squeeze" ("most important person") is attested from 1896, the specific meaning "one's sweetheart, lover" is attested in 1970s.
The nonstandard strong forms squoze and squozen, attested dialectally since at least the mid-19th century, are by analogy with freeze.

cog

Jones squeezed in Smith with a perfect bunt.

(transitive, baseball) To attempt to score a runner from third by bunting.

ճզմրտուք

baseball: to attempt to score a runner from third by bunting


squeeze

The game ended in exciting fashion with a failed squeeze.

(baseball) The act of bunting in an attempt to score a runner from third.

スクイズ

baseball: the act of bunting in an attempt to score a runner from third


decision

en-noun

decision (countable and uncountable, plural decisions)

From Middle French, from Latin dēcīsiō, dēcīsiōnis, from dēcīdō (“to decide”).

(baseball) A win or a loss awarded to a pitcher.


sacrifice

sacrifice (countable and uncountable, plural sacrifices)

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *seh₂k-
Proto-Italic *sakros
Latin sacer
Latin sacrum
Proto-Italic *fakjō
Latin facio
Proto-Indo-European *-yōs
Proto-Italic *-jōs
Old Latin -ios
Latin -ius
Latin -ium
Latin sacrificiumlbor.
Old French sacrifisebor.
Middle English sacrifice
English sacrifice
From Middle English sacrifice (“act of offering a life or object to a deity; the life or object so offered; (Christianity) act of consecrating the elements in the mass”), from Anglo-Norman sacrefiz, and Old French sacrifice, sacrifise (modern French sacrifice), from Latin sacrificium (“something offered to a deity, sacrifice”), from sacrum (“sacrifice, sacrificial rite”) + faciō (“to do, to make”) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns). The noun sacrum is the nominalized neuter of the adjective sacer (“devoted to a deity for sacrifice; holy, sacred”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂k- (“ceremony, ritual; to make sacred”), and the verb faciō is ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to do; to place, put”). Related Latin formations include sacrificus (“of or pertaining to sacrifice, sacrificial”) and sacrificō (“to make a sacrifice”).
cognates
* Italian sagrifizio
* Occitan sacrifici
* Portuguese sacrificio
* Spanish sacrificio

der

(baseball) Short for sacrifice bunt or sacrifice hit (“a play in which the batter intentionally hits the ball softly with a hands-spread batting stance at the cost of an out to advance one or more runners”).


sacrifice

en-verb

sacrifice (third-person singular simple present sacrifices, present participle sacrificing, simple past and past participle sacrificed)

sacrifices (present singular third-person)
sacrificing (participle present)
sacrificed (participle past)
sacrificed (past)
sacrifice (infinitive)

From Middle English sacrificen (“to offer a sacrifice to a deity”), from sacrifice (see etymology 1) + -en (suffix forming infinitives of verbs).

flijoj

(transitive) to offer (a human being or an animal, or an object) to a deity; (transitive) to offer a human being or an animal, or an object, to a deity

(baseball) Of a batter: to advance (one or more runners on base) by batting the ball so it can be fielded, placing the batter out but with insufficient time to put the runner(s) out.

sacrificar-se

(baseball, transitive) of a batter: to advance (one or more runners on base) by batting the ball so it can be fielded; (intransitive) to bat the ball so that it can be fielded

(baseball) Of a batter: to bat the ball so that it can be fielded, placing the batter out but allowing one or more runners on base to advance.


pea

From having the appearance of a pea (see English etymology 1), the edible seed of Pisum sativum, the pea plant.

(baseball) A ball travelling at high velocity.


jam

en-noun

jam (countable and uncountable, plural jams)

→ Armenian: ջեմ (ǰem)

→ Azerbaijani: cem

→ Belarusian: джэм (džem)

→ Bengali: জ্যাম (jêm)

→ Bulgarian: джем (džem)

→ Cantonese: 占 (zim1, zem1)

→ Czech: džem

→ Dutch: jam

→ Estonian: džemm

→ Finnish: jamit

→ French: jam

→ Georgian: ჯემი (ǯemi)

→ Hindi: जाम (jām)

→ Japanese: ジャム (jamu)

→ Kazakh: джем (djem)

→ Korean: 잼 (jaem)

→ Kyrgyz: джем (djem)

→ Macedonian: џем (džem)

→ Malay: jem

→ Polish: dżem

→ Romanian: gem

→ Russian: джем (džem)

→ Saanich: ĆÁM

→ Serbo-Croatian:

Latin script: džȅm

Cyrillic script: џе̏м

→ Sinhalese: ජෑම් (jǣm)

→ Slovak: džem

→ Swahili: jemu

→ Swedish: jam

→ Tajik: джем (džem)

→ Thai: แยม (yɛɛm)

→ Ukrainian: джем (džem)

→ Urdu: جام (jām)

→ Welsh: jam

First attested in the early 18th c. as a verb meaning “to press, be pressed, be wedged in”. Compare dialectal jammock (“to press, squeeze, crush into a soft mass, chew food"; also "a soft, pulpy substance”). Perhaps from Middle English chammen, champen ("to bite upon something, gnash the teeth"; whence modern champ, chomp), of uncertain origin; probably originally onomatopoeic.
The "performance" sense is first attested with regards to jazz in 1929, and its origin, though uncertain, is likely metaphorical, "something sweet made by the combination of many things", with influence from jamboree.

onomatopoeic

onomatopoeic

The pitcher's in a jam now, having walked the bases loaded with the cleanup hitter coming to bat.

(countable, baseball) A difficult situation for a pitcher or defending team.


jam

en-verb

jam (third-person singular simple present jams, present participle jamming, simple past and past participle jammed)

jams (present singular third-person)
jamming (participle present)
jammed (participle past)
jammed (past)

onomatopoeic

onomatopoeic

Jones was jammed by the pitch.

(baseball) To throw a pitch at or near the batter's hands.

syöttää käsiä päin

baseball: to throw a pitch at or near the batter's hands


diamond

en-noun

diamond (countable and uncountable, plural diamonds)

From Middle English dyamaunt, from Old French diamant, from Late Latin diamas, from Latin adamas, from Ancient Greek ἀδάμας (adámas, “diamond”). Doublet of adamant. The printing sense is a calque of Dutch diamant, used by Dirck Voskens who first cut it around 1700; compare pearl, ruby (“size of type between pearl and nonpareil”).

der

(baseball) The entire field of play used in the game.

The teams met on the diamond.

(baseball) The infield of a baseball field.


walk

en-verb

walk (third-person singular simple present walks, present participle walking, simple past and past participle walked)

walks (present singular third-person)
walking (participle present)
walked (participle past)
walked (past)
walk (infinitive)

Chinese Pidgin English: walkee

From Middle English walken (“to move, walk, roll, turn, revolve, toss”), a conflation of Old English wealcan (“to move round, revolve, roll, turn, toss”) (ġewealcan (“to go, traverse”)) and Old English wealcian (“to curl, roll up”); both from Proto-West Germanic *walkan, from Proto-Germanic *walkaną, *walkōną (“to twist, turn, roll about, full”), from Proto-Indo-European *walg- (“to twist, turn, move”).
Cognate with Scots walk (“to walk”), Saterland Frisian walkje (“to full; drum; flex; mill”), West Frisian swalkje (“to wander, roam”), Dutch walken (“to full, work hair or felt”), Dutch zwalken (“to wander about”), German walken (“to flex, full, mill, drum”), Danish valke (“to waulk, full”), Latin valgus (“bandy-legged, bow-legged”), Sanskrit वल्गति (valgati, “amble, bound, leap, dance”). More at vagrant and whelk. Doublet of waulk.

cog

(transitive, baseball) To allow a batter to reach base by pitching four balls.

aya

baseball: to allow to advance after four balls

(intransitive, baseball, of a batter) To reach base by being pitched four balls.


walk

From Middle English walk, walke, walc, from Old English *wealc (as in Old English wealcspinl) and ġewealc (“a rolling motion, attack”), from Proto-Germanic *walką. Cognate with Icelandic válk (“a rolling around, a tossing to and fro, trouble, distress”).

The pitcher now has two walks in this inning alone.

(baseball) An award of first base to a batter following four balls being thrown by the pitcher; known in the rules as a "base on balls".


top

en-noun

top (countable and uncountable, plural tops)

From Middle English top, toppe, from Old English top (“top, highest part; summit; crest; tassel, tuft; (spinning) top, ball; a tuft or ball at the highest point of anything”), from Proto-West Germanic *topp, from Proto-Germanic *tuppaz (“braid, pigtail, end”), of unknown ultimate origin.
Cognate with Scots tap (“top”), North Frisian top, tap, tup (“top”), Saterland Frisian Top (“top”), West Frisian top (“top”), Dutch top (“top, summit, peak”), Low German Topp (“top”), German Zopf (“braid, pigtail, plait, top”), Swedish topp (“top, peak, summit, tip”), Icelandic toppur (“top”).
The sense of a spinning toy is separated from this, obscurely related to Dutch top and dop in this sense, against Standard Dutch tol, and French toupie having this sense.

頂上

chōjō, ちょうじょう

suprulo

BDSM: dominant partner in a BDSM relationship or roleplay

主動

gay sexual slang: gay man who likes to penetrate in sex

one's elevator doesn't go all the way to the top

The highest or uppermost part of something.

(baseball) The first half of an inning, during which the home team fields and the visiting team bats.


RF

en-noun

RF (countable and uncountable, plural RFs)

(baseball) Initialism of right field or right fielder.


inning

→ Japanese: イニング (iningu)

Back-formation from innings, mistaken to be plural of the time period, not the entries of the batters/batsmen.

It is a baseball tradition to sing "Take Me Out To the Ball Game" during the seventh inning stretch.

(baseball) A period of play in which members of a visiting baseball team attempt to hit a baseball pitched by the opposing home team until three players are called out, followed by a similar attempt by members of the home baseball team against the visiting team's pitching. There are nine or more innings in a regulation baseball game.


pepper

pepper (countable and uncountable, plural peppers)

Tok Pisin: pepa

→ Hawaiian: pepa

→ Marshallese: pepa

From Middle English peper, piper, from Old English piper, from Proto-West Germanic *pipar, from Latin piper, from an Indo-Aryan source; compare Sanskrit पिप्पलि (pippali, “long pepper”). The name was given to the capsicum fruit because of its unusual spicy taste, not unlike the Old World spice. Cognate with Scots pepar, Saterland Frisian Pieper, West Frisian piper, Dutch peper, German Low German Peper, German Pfeffer, Danish peber, Swedish peppar, Icelandic pipar. Doublet of falafel and peepul.

cog

Some ballparks have signs saying "No pepper games".

(baseball) A game used by baseball players to warm up where fielders standing close to a batter rapidly return the batted ball to be hit again


rubber

en-noun

rubber (usually uncountable, plural rubbers)

desc

→ Kashubian: roberk (Canada, United State)

→ Sikaiana: lapa

From rub + -er.
The sense of the substance comes from its ability to function as an eraser, displacing earlier caoutchouc. The senses not having to do with rubbing or erasing are secondarily derived from the name of the substance.

Jones toes the rubber and then fires to the plate.

(countable, baseball) The rectangular pad on the pitcher's mound from which the pitcher must pitch.


out

From Middle English out, oute, from a combination of Old English ūt (“out”, preposition & adverb), from Proto-West Germanic *ūt, from Proto-Germanic *ūt (“out”); and Old English ūte (“outside; without”, adverb), from Proto-Germanic *ūtai (“out; outside”); both from Proto-Indo-European *úd (“upwards, away”).
Cognate with Scots oot, out (“out”), Saterland Frisian uut, uute (“out”), West Frisian út (“out”), Dutch uit (“out”), German Low German ut (“out”), German aus (“out”), Norwegian/Swedish ut, ute (“out; outside”), Danish ud, ude (“out; outside”).

inh

There are numerous individual phrasal verbs

Wilson was bowled out for five runs.

First ball hit me on the 'and, second 'ad me on the knee, the third was in my eye, the fourth bowled me out.

1876, The School newspaper Vol. [2 issues of vols. 31 and 32]., page 66:

Hayes batted for Reed and grounded out, Murray unassisted.

1984, Official Baseball Guide, page 211:

So, first guy, Larry strikes him out, good fastball in on his hands.

2007, Philip R. Craig, William G. Tapply, Third Strike: A Brady Coyne/J. W. Jackson Mystery, page 27:

The striking batter is bowled out when the wicket is broken with the bowler's delivery. A batter is bowled out whether or not the ball is touched or deflected into the stumps by the batter.

2010, Mark Butcher, Paul Abraham, Learn to Play Cricket: Teach Yourself, page A-65:

(cricket, baseball) Of a player, so as to be disqualified from playing further by some action of a member of the opposing team (such as being stumped in cricket).


out

→ Greek: άουτ (áout)

→ Japanese: アウト (auto)

→ Korean: 아웃 (aut)

→ Spanish: out

The first time I saw Amity we were in front of her house playing work-up, a baseball variation where you move from position to position by outs until you get to bat.

2014, Tom Bentley, Flowering: And Other Stories:

(baseball) A state in which a member of the batting team is removed from play due to the application of various rules of the game such as striking out, hitting a fly ball which is caught by the fielding team before bouncing, etc.


manager

→ Albanian: menaxher

→ Burmese: မန်နေဂျာ (mannegya)

→ Catalan: mànager

→ Dutch: manager

→ French: manager
→ Turkish: menajer

→ German: Manager

→ Greek: μάνατζερ (mánatzer)

→ Hungarian: menedzser

→ Italian: manager

→ Japanese: マネージャー (manējā)

→ Korean: 매니저 (maenijeo)

→ Polish: menedżer

→ Romanian: manager

→ Russian: ме́неджер (ménedžer)

→ Scottish Gaelic: manaidsear

→ Spanish: mánager

→ Swahili: meneja

→ Ukrainian: ме́неджер (ménedžer)


home plate

→ Japanese: ホームベース (hōmu bēsu)

(baseball) A flat, pentagonal, rubber object placed at the center of the batter's box, which is used as a basis for judging pitched strikes and balls, and the touching of which by a runner advancing from or past third base scores a run.


inside

From Middle English ynneside; equivalent to in- + side.
Compare German Innenseite (“inside”), Danish inderside (“inside”), Swedish insida (“inside”), Dutch binnenzijde (“inside”), German Low German Binnensied, Binnersied (“inside”), Saterland Frisian Binnersiede (“inside”).

cog

The first pitch is ... just a bit inside.

(baseball, of a pitch) Toward the batter as it crosses home plate.


runner

From Middle English rennere, rynner, urnare, equivalent to run + -er. Cognate with Old Norse rennari (“runner; messenger”). Displaced earlier Middle English runel (“runner”), from Old English rynel (“runner”; also “messenger, courier”).

махови́к

mechanical part intended to guide or aid something else to move

The runner was out at second.

Agent noun of run; one who runs.
(baseball, softball) A baserunner.

Agent noun of run; one who runs.
A baserunner.


Yankee

First attested in 1683, as a name applied disparagingly by Dutch settlers in Nieuw Amsterdam (New York) to English colonists in neighboring Connecticut. It may be from Dutch Janke (“Little John”), the old diminutive form of the common personal name Jan, or it may be from Jan Kees, the familiar form of "Johan Cornelius", or a variant of Jan Kaas, literally "John Cheese", the generic nickname the Flemings used for Dutchmen. It originally seems to have been applied insultingly to the Dutch, especially freebooters, before they turned around and applied it to the English. In English it was a term of contempt (1750s) before it came to be used as a general term for "a native of New England" (1765). The shortened form Yank was first recorded in reference to "an American" in 1778. James Fenimore Cooper suggested that it was a corruption of "English" via the intermediate form "Yengeese."

(baseball) A player for the New York Yankees.

洋基

(baseball) player that plays for the New York Yankees


submarine

When Peterson saw the unusual pitching motion of Kent Tekulve—the submarine pitcher who threw baseballs as though they were coming right out of the rubber slab on the mound—he was the first of many who tried to change Tekulve's delivery.

2005, John McCollister, Tales from the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates: Remembering "The Fam-A-Lee", →ISBN, page 109:

(baseball) Of a pitch, thrown with the hand lower than the elbow.


submarine

(baseball) A pitch delivered with an underhand motion.


tattoo

en-verb

tattoo (third-person singular simple present tattoos, present participle tattooing, simple past and past participle tattooed)

tattoos (present singular third-person)
tattooing (participle present)
tattooed (participle past)
tattooed (past)

From earlier tattaow, tattow, a borrowing from a Polynesian language, e.g. Samoan tatau (“tattoo; to tap, to strike”).

cog

Jones tattoos one into the gap in left; that will clear the bases.

(baseball) To hit the ball hard, as if to figuratively leave a tattoo on the ball.


outside

en-adj

outside (comparative more outside, superlative most outside)

more outside (comparative)
most outside (superlative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Nattes à chat-outside.wav

արտաքին

pertaining to the outer surface or boundary

The first pitch is ... just a bit outside.

(baseball, of a pitch) Away (far) from the batter as it crosses home plate.


fireman

(baseball) A relief pitcher (reflecting the figurative analogy of rescuing the situation).


starter

Someone who starts, or who starts something.


single

→ Dutch: single

→ Finnish: sinkku

→ German: Single

→ Indonesian: singel

→ Japanese: シングル (shinguru)

→ Polish: singiel

From Middle English single, sengle, from Old French sengle, saingle, sangle, from Latin singulus, a diminutive derived from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one”). Akin to Latin simplex (“simple”). See simple, and compare singular.

(baseball) A hit in baseball where the batter advances to first base.


single

en-verb

single (third-person singular simple present singles, present participle singling, simple past and past participle singled)

singles (present singular third-person)
singling (participle present)
singled (participle past)
singled (past)

Pedro singled in the bottom of the eighth inning, which, if converted to a run, would put the team back into contention.

(baseball) To get a hit that advances the batter exactly one base.


bottom

en-noun

bottom (countable and uncountable, plural bottoms)

→ Dutch: bottom

→ French: bottom

PIE word
 *bʰudʰmḗn
From Middle English botme, botom, from Old English botm, bodan (“bottom, foundation; ground, abyss”), from Proto-West Germanic *butm, from Proto-Germanic *butmaz, *budmaz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰudʰmḗn (“bottom”). Cognate with Dutch bodem, German Boden, Icelandic botn, Danish bund; also Irish bonn (“sole (of foot)”), Ancient Greek πυθμήν (puthmḗn, “bottom of a cup or jar”), Sanskrit बुध्न (budhna, “bottom”), Persian بن (bon, “bottom”), Latin fundus (“bottom”) (whence fund, via French). The sense “posterior of a person” is from 1794; the verb “to reach the bottom of” is from 1808. bottom dollar (“the last dollar one has”) is from 1882.

سَالِب

gay sexual slang: penetrated partner in sex

(baseball) The second half of an inning, the home team's turn at bat.

jälkimmäinen vuoro

baseball: second half of an inning, the home team's turn at bat


shotgun

en-verb

shotgun (third-person singular simple present shotguns, present participle shotgunning, simple past and past participle shotgunned)

shotguns (present singular third-person)
shotgunning (participle present)
shotgunned (participle past)
shotgunned (past)

From shot + gun. Front passenger seat sense comes from ride shotgun.

(transitive, baseball) To hit the ball directly back at the pitcher.


boner

erect penis

(slang, erect penis): erection, hard-on, stiffy

He really pulled a boner that time!

(dated slang, especially baseball) A blunder; a silly mistake.


scatter

scatter (third-person singular simple present scatters, present participle scattering, simple past and past participle scattered)

scatters (present singular third-person)
scattering (participle present)
scattered (participle past)
scattered (past)

From Middle English scateren, skateren, (also schateren, see shatter), from Old English *sceaterian, probably from a dialect of Old Norse. Possibly related to Proto-Indo-European *skey- (“to cut, split, shatter”). Compare Middle Dutch scheteren (“to scatter”), Low German schateren, Dutch schateren (“to burst out laughing”); and is apparently remotely akin to Ancient Greek σκεδάννυμι (skedánnumi, “scatter, disperse”). and Tocharian B kät- (“to scatter, sow seeds”). Doublet of shatter.

cog

(transitive, baseball) Of a pitcher: to keep down the number of hits or walks.


wave

en-verb

wave (third-person singular simple present waves, present participle waving, simple past and past participle waved)

waves (present singular third-person)
waving (participle present)
waved (participle past)
waved (past)

From Middle English waven, from Old English wafian (“to wave, fluctuate, waver in mind, wonder”), from Proto-West Germanic *wabōn, from Proto-Germanic *wabōną, *wabjaną (“to wander, sway”), from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“to move to and from, wander”).
Cognate with Middle High German waben (“to wave”), German wabern (“to waft”), Icelandic váfa (“to fluctuate, waver, doubt”). See also waver.

cog

Jones waves at strike one.

(intransitive, baseball) To swing and miss at a pitch.


cage

→ Zulu: ikheji

From Middle English cage, from Old French cage, from Latin cavea. Doublet of cadge and cavea and related to jail.


pick

From Middle English piken, picken, pikken, from Old English *piccian, *pīcian (attested in pīcung (“a pricking”)), and pīcan, pȳcan (“to pick, prick, pluck”), both from Proto-West Germanic *pikkōn, from Proto-Germanic *pikkōną (“to pick, peck, prick, knock”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew-, *bu- (“to make a dull, hollow sound”). Doublet of pitch and peck.
Cognate with Dutch pikken (“to pick”), German picken (“to pick, peck”), Old Norse pikka, pjakka (whence Icelandic pikka (“to pick, prick”), Swedish picka (“to pick, peck”)).

inh

(baseball) A good defensive play by an infielder.


web

From Middle English webbe, from Old English webb, from Proto-Germanic *wabją, from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“weave”).

what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive

He caught the ball in the web.

(baseball) The part of a baseball mitt between the forefinger and thumb, the webbing.

web

the part of a baseball mitt between the forefinger and thumb, the webbing


merry-go-round

Possibly from go round (= rotate) merrily.

Russell kept the merry-go-round moving with an RBI single that advanced Henderson to third.

(baseball, figurative) A series of singles and doubles that allow the batting team to score while still having runners on base who can be driven in by the next batter.


park

en-verb

park (third-person singular simple present parks, present participle parking, simple past and past participle parked)

parks (present singular third-person)
parking (participle present)
parked (participle past)
parked (past)

From Middle English park, from Old French parc (“livestock pen”), from Medieval Latin parcus, parricus, from Frankish *parrik (“enclosure, pen, fence”). Cognate with Dutch perk (“enclosure; flowerbed”), Old High German pfarrih, pferrih (“enclosure, pen”), Old English pearroc (“enclosure”) (whence modern English paddock), Old Norse parrak, parak (“enclosure, pen; distress, anxiety”), Icelandic parraka (“to keep pent in under restraint and coercion”). More at parrock, paddock.

cog

He really parked that one.

(transitive, baseball) To hit a home run; to hit the ball out of the park.


range

Japanese: レンジ (renji)

Korean: 레인지 (reinji)

From Middle English rengen, from Old French rengier (“to range, to rank, to order,”), from the noun renc, reng, ranc, rang (“a rank, row”), from Frankish *hring, from Proto-Germanic *hringaz (“ring, circle, curve”).

der

Jones has good range for a big man.

(sports, baseball) The defensive area that a player can cover.

防守領域

baseball: defensive area covered by a player


range

en-verb

range (third-person singular simple present ranges, present participle ranging, simple past and past participle ranged)

ranges (present singular third-person)
ranging (participle present)
ranged (participle past)
ranged (past)

Willie, playing in left-center, raced toward a ball no human had any business getting a glove to. Mays ranged to his left, searching, digging in, pouring on the speed, as the crowd screamed its anticipation of a triple.

2009, Jason Aronoff, Going, Going ... Caught!: Baseball's Great Outfield Catches as Described by Those Who Saw Them, 1887-1964, →ISBN, page 250:

(baseball) Of a player, to travel a significant distance for a defensive play.


hill

l-vocalizing: UK, General Australian, New Zealand

From Middle English hil, from Old English hyll (“hill”), from Proto-Germanic *hulliz (“hill”), from Proto-Indo-European *kl̥Hnís (“top, hill, rock”) (compare also Proto-Germanic *halluz (“stone, rock”)).
Cognate with Middle Dutch hille, hulle (“hill”), Low German hull (“hill”), Old Norse hóll (“hill”), Latin collis (“hill”), Lithuanian kalnas, Albanian kallumë (“big pile, tall heap”), Russian холм (xolm, “hill”), Old English holm (“rising land, island”). More at holm.


tater

Representing an aphetic pronunciation of potato. Compare patater (“potato”), 'mater (“tomato”), and 'naner (“banana”).

Playing 14 seasons in the major leagues, the right-handed-batting Scott was a three-time All-Star and hit 271 home runs, or taters, as he called them.

2013 July 29, Richard Goldstein, “George Scott, Slugger Who Boomed ‘Taters’ in Fenway, Dies at 69”, in The New York Times:


chase

en-verb

chase (third-person singular simple present chases, present participle chasing, simple past and past participle chased)

chases (present singular third-person)
chasing (participle present)
chased (participle past)
chased (past)

From Middle English chacen, from Anglo-Norman chacer, Old French chacier, from Late Latin captiāre, from Latin captāre, frequentative of capere. Compare French chasser (“to hunt”, “to chase”), Spanish cazar (“to hunt”), Portuguese caçar (“to hunt”)
, see Norwegian skysse (“to hunt”).
Doublet of catch and related to capture.
Displaced native Old English ōht, ēhtnes, and wāþ. Broadly overtook Old English huntaþ.

Jones chases one out of the zone for strike two.

(transitive, baseball) To swing at a pitch outside of the strike zone, typically an outside pitch.

The rally chased the starter.

(transitive, baseball) To produce enough offense to cause the pitcher to be removed.


sack

→ Japanese: サック (sakku)

From Middle English sak (“bag, sackcloth”), from Old English sacc (“sack, bag”) and sæcc (“sackcloth, sacking”); both from Proto-West Germanic *sakku, from late Proto-Germanic *sakkuz (“sack”), borrowed from Latin saccus (“large bag”), from Ancient Greek σάκκος (sákkos, “bag of coarse cloth”), from Semitic, possibly Phoenician or Hebrew.
Cognate with Dutch zak, German Sack, Swedish säck, Danish sæk, Hebrew שַׂק (śaq, “sack, sackcloth”), Aramaic סַקָּא, Classical Syriac ܣܩܐ, Ge'ez ሠቅ (śäḳ), Akkadian 𒆭𒊓 (saqqu), Egyptian sꜣgꜣ. Doublet of sac, saccus, saco, and sakkos.
Černý and Forbes suggest the word was originally Egyptian, a nominal derivative of sꜣq (“to gather or put together”) that also yielded Coptic ⲥⲟⲕ (sok, “sackcloth”) and was borrowed into Greek perhaps by way of a Semitic intermediary. However, Vycichl and Hoch reject this idea, noting that such an originally Egyptian word would be expected to yield Hebrew *סַק rather than שַׂק. Instead, they posit that the Coptic and Greek words are both borrowed from Semitic, with the Coptic word perhaps developing via Egyptian sꜣgꜣ.
Sense evolution
* “Pillage” senses from the use of sacks in carrying off plunder. From Middle French sac, shortened from the phrase mettre à sac (“put it in a bag”), a military command to pillage; also parallel meaning with Italian sacco (“plunder”), from Medieval Latin saccō (“pillage”). From Vulgar Latin saccare (“to plunder”), from saccus (“sack”). See also ransack. American football “tackle” sense from this “plunder, conquer” root.
* “Removal from employment” senses attested since 1825; the original formula was “to give (someone) the sack”, likely from the notion of a worker going off with his tools in a sack, or being given such a sack for his personal belongings as part of an expedient severance. Idiom exists earlier in French (on luy a donné son sac, 17c.) and Middle Dutch (iemand den zak geven). English verb in this sense recorded from 1841. Current verb, to sack (“to fire”) carries influence from the forceful nature of “plunder, tackle” verb senses.
* Slang meaning “bunk, bed” is attested since 1825, originally nautical, likely in reference to sleeping bags. The verb meaning “go to bed” is recorded from 1946.
* Slang meaning "scrotum" is an ellipsis of ballsack.

doublet

He twisted his ankle sliding into the sack at second.

(baseball) One of the square bases anchored at first base, second base, or third base.


hanging

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

nonlemma

hanging breaking ball

hanging slider

(baseball, slang, of an off-speed pitch) Hittable; poorly executed by the pitcher, hence relatively easy to hit.


frame

→ Korean: 프레임 (peureim)

→ Swahili: fremu

From Middle English frame (“profit, benefit, advantage; a structure composed according to a plan”), from the verb (above) and also from Old Norse frami (“advantage, fame, bravery, efficiency, privilege, honor”); and frame (“a framework or structure of any kind”) which is of uncertain origin. The latter is usually regarded as a derivative of former; however, compare the rare Anglo-Norman and Old French frame, fraine (“frame, framework”), itself of uncertain origin, which might be a borrowing from the English, from the Norse, or even possibly ultimately from Frankish *hramu (“frame”) related to Dutch raam (“window frame”).


shade

en-verb

shade (third-person singular simple present shades, present participle shading, simple past and past participle shaded)

shades (present singular third-person)
shading (participle present)
shaded (participle past)
shaded (past)

From Middle English schaden, from the noun.

Jones will shade a little to the right on this pitch count.

(intransitive, baseball, of a defensive player) To move slightly from one's normal fielding position.


load

load (third-person singular simple present loads, present participle loading, simple past loaded, past participle loaded or (archaic) loaden)

loads (present singular third-person)
loading (participle present)
loaded (past)
loaded (participle past)
loaden (archaic participle past)

The sense of “burden” first arose in the 13th century as a secondary meaning of Middle English lode, loade, which had the main significance of “way, course, journey”, from Old English lād (“course, journey; way, street, waterway; leading, carrying; maintenance, support”) (ultimately from Proto-Germanic *laidō (“leading, way”), Proto-Indo-European *leyt- (“to go, go forth, die”).
Cognate with Middle Low German leide (“entourage, escort”), German Leite (“line, course, load”), Swedish led (“way, trail, line”), Icelandic leið (“way, course, route”)). As such, load is a doublet of lode, which has preserved the older meaning.
Most likely, the semantic extension of the Middle English substantive arose by conflation with the (etymologically unrelated) verb lade; however, Middle English lode occurs only as a substantive; the transitive verb load (“to charge with a load”) is recorded only in the 16th century (frequently in Shakespeare),
and (except for the participle laden) has largely supplanted lade in modern English.

cog

He walks to load the bases.

(transitive, baseball) To put runners on first, second and third bases


bean

en-verb

bean (third-person singular simple present beans, present participle beaning, simple past and past participle beaned)

beans (present singular third-person)
beaning (participle present)
beaned (participle past)
beaned (past)

From Middle English bene, from Old English bēan, from Proto-West Germanic *baunu, from Proto-Germanic *baunō (“bean”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰabʰ- (“bean”). Cognate with Scots bene, bein (“bean”), West Frisian bean (“bean”), Dutch boon (“bean”), German Bohne (“bean”),
Swedish böna (“bean”),
Danish bønne (“bean”), Norwegian bønne (“bean”), Icelandic baun (“bean”), Latin faba (“bean”), Russian боб (bob, “bean”), Serbo-Croatian бо̏б/bȍb. Doublet of fava.

The pitcher beaned the batter, rather than letting him hit another home run.

Though I shall have to exercise an iron self-restraint to keep me from beaning that pie-faced little hornswoggler Mrs Bertram Wooster, nee Wickham, with the shaker.
[...]
 dudgeon might easily lead her to reach for the ginger ale bottle and bean me with it.

1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter IX and XI:

(chiefly baseball) To hit deliberately with a projectile, especially in the head.


glove

From Middle English glove, glofe, from Old English glōf, *glōfe, *glōfa, ("glove"; weak forms attested only in plural form glōfan (“gloves”)), from Proto-Germanic *galōfô (“glove”), from Proto-Germanic *ga- (“collective and associative prefix”) + Proto-Germanic *lōfô (“flat of the hand, palm”), from Proto-Indo-European *lāp-, *lēp-, *lep- (“flat”). Cognate with Scots gluve, gluive (“glove”), Icelandic glófi (“glove”). Related to Middle English lofe, lufe (“palm of the hand”). More at loof.

gloss

"glove"; weak forms attested only in plural form <i class="Latn mention" lang="ang">glōfan</i> (“gloves”)

der

Frederico had a great glove, but he couldn't hit a curveball, so he never broke into the pros.

(baseball, figuratively) The ability to catch a hit ball.


glove

en-verb

glove (third-person singular simple present gloves, present participle gloving, simple past and past participle gloved)

gloves (present singular third-person)
gloving (participle present)
gloved (participle past)
gloved (past)

He gloved the line drive for the third out.

(baseball, transitive) To catch the ball in a baseball mitt.


knock out of the box

knock out of the box (third-person singular simple present knocks out of the box, present participle knocking out of the box, simple past and past participle knocked out of the box)

knocks out of the box (present singular third-person)
knocking out of the box (participle present)
knocked out of the box (participle past)
knocked out of the box (past)

(baseball) To cause a pitcher to be replaced by heavy hitting.


clout

en-noun

clout (countable and uncountable, plural clouts)

From Middle English clout, from Old English clūt, from Proto-Germanic *klūtaz, from Proto-Indo-European *gelewdos, from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to ball up, amass”). The sense “influence, especially political” originated in the dialect of Chicago, but has become widespread.
cognates and related terms
Cognate with Old Norse klútr (“kerchief”), Swedish klut, Danish klud, Middle High German klōz (“lump”), whence German Kloß, and dialect Russian глуда (gluda). See also cleat.

der

'... allowed Boston to score all of its runs on homers, including a pair of clouts by Jacoby Ellsbury ...'

2011 August 17, Michael Vega, “Triple double”, in The Boston Globe, page C1:


barrel

From Middle English barel, from Anglo-Norman baril, Old French baril, bareil (“barrel”), of uncertain origin. An attempt to link baril to Old French barre (“bar, bolt”) (compare Medieval Latin barra (“bar, rod”)) via assumed Vulgar Latin *barrīculum meets the phonological requirement, but fails to connect the word semantically. The alternate connection to Frankish *baril, *beril or Gothic 𐌱𐌴𐍂𐌹𐌻𐍃 (bērils, “container for transport”), from Proto-Germanic *barilaz, *bērilaz (“barrel, jug, container”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry, transport”), is more plausible as it connects not only the form of the word but also the sense; equivalent to bear + -le. Compare also Old High German biril (“jug, large pot”), Luxembourgish Bärel, Bierel (“jug, pot”), Old Norse berill (“barrel for liquids”), Old English byrla (“barrel of a horse, trunk, body”). More at bear.

vat

round vessel made from staves bound with a hoop

For quotations using this term, see Citations:barrel.

(baseball) A statistic derived from launch angle and exit velocity of a ball hit in play.


stretch

Esperanto: streĉi

From Middle English strecchen, from Old English streċċan (“to stretch, hold out, extend, spread out, prostrate”), from Proto-West Germanic *strakkjan (“to stretch, make taut or tight”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)treg-, *streg-, *treg- (“stiff, rigid”). Cognate with West Frisian strekke, Dutch strekken (“to stretch, straighten”), German strecken (“to stretch, straighten, elongate”), Danish strække (“to stretch”), Swedish sträcka (“to stretch”), Dutch strak (“taut, tight”), Albanian shtriqem (“to stretch”). More at stark.

cog

time stretch analog-to-digital converter

(baseball) A quick pitching delivery used when runners are on base where the pitcher slides his leg instead of lifting it.

(baseball) A long reach in the direction of the ball with a foot remaining on the base by a first baseman in order to catch the ball sooner.


sacker

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-sacker.wav

The ball crossed the base before he did, but it bounded between the third sacker’s feet, and score two was marked up for Hollis Creek, with nobody out!

1910, George Randolph Chester, chapter 15, in The Early Bird, Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill:

1952, Bernard Malamud, The Natural, New York: Time Reading Program, 1966, “Batter Up!” p. 56,
About forty years ago Pop was the third sacker for the old Sox when they got into their first World Series after twenty years.

2009, John H. Ritter, New York: Philomel, Chapter 35, p. 226,
Reinspired, he sprang from the dugout and ran out to second base so quickly, the Chicago second sacker, Cal McVey, was still walking in from shallow right field.

(baseball, softball, in combination) A baseman (player positioned at or near a base).


tag

From Middle English tagge (“small piece hanging from a garment”), probably of North Germanic origin. Compare Norwegian tagg (“point; prong; barb; tag”), Swedish tagg (“thorn; prickle; tine”), Icelandic tág (“a willow-twig”). Compare also tack.

cog

The tag was applied at second for the final out.

(heading) Involving being tagged physically.

(baseball) An instance of touching the baserunner with the ball or the ball in a gloved hand to rule him "out."

polttaminen

baseball: instance of touching the baserunner with the ball to rule him "out"


tag

en-verb

tag (third-person singular simple present tags, present participle tagging, simple past and past participle tagged)

tags (present singular third-person)
tagging (participle present)
tagged (participle past)
tagged (past)

He really tagged that ball.

(transitive, baseball, colloquial) To hit the ball hard.

He tagged the runner for the out.

(transitive, baseball) To put a runner out by touching them with the ball or the ball in a gloved hand.


organization

en-noun

organization (countable and uncountable, plural organizations)

/ˌɔːɡənaɪˈzeɪʃən/

/ˌɔɹɡənɪˈzeɪʃən/

/ˌɔɹɡnɪˈzeɪʃən/

/ˌɔɹɡənaɪˈzeɪʃən/

/ˌɔɹˈɡænɪzeɪʃən/

Borrowed from Middle French organisation, from Medieval Latin organizātiō; by surface analysis, organize + -ation.

bor+

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class V § 712. Party

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class V § 709. Cooperation

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class VI § 968. Lawyer

He's been in the Dodgers' organization since 2003.

(baseball) A major league club and all its farm teams.


strand

en-verb

strand (third-person singular simple present strands, present participle stranding, simple past and past participle stranded)

strands (present singular third-person)
stranding (participle present)
stranded (participle past)
stranded (past)

* From Middle English strand, strond, from Old English strand (“strand, sea-shore, shore”), from Proto-West Germanic *strand, from Proto-Germanic *strandō (“edge, rim, shore”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)trAnt- (“strand, border, field”), from Proto-Indo-European *ster- (“to broaden, spread out”). Cognate with West Frisian strân, Dutch strand, German Strand, Danish strand, Swedish strand, Norwegian Bokmål strand, Icelandic strönd.
* (street): Perhaps from the similarity of shape.

der

Jones pops up; that's going to strand a pair.

(transitive, baseball) To cause the third out of an inning to be made, leaving a runner on base.


speedball

en-noun

speedball (countable and uncountable, plural speedballs)


left field

left field (countable and uncountable, plural left fields)

The double, by pinch-hitter Ruben Sierra, curved sharply toward foul ground in deep left field but then changed its mind and hit the line instead—a big hit, and a smile at last from the great and enigmatically difficult game.

(baseball) The part of a baseball field which is beyond the infield and to the left of a person standing on home plate and facing the pitcher.

(baseball) The defensive position in the outfield to the left.


delivery

delivery (countable and uncountable, plural deliveries)

From Middle English deliveri et al., from Anglo-Norman, from Old French delivrer.

His delivery has a catch in it.

Here is the delivery; ... strike three!


bloop

en-verb

bloop (third-person singular simple present bloops, present participle blooping, simple past and past participle blooped)

bloops (present singular third-person)
blooping (participle present)
blooped (participle past)
blooped (past)

onom

Imitative

(baseball) To make a hit just beyond the infield.


bloop

Imitative


bunter

Glavine was a renowned bunter of the ball.


command

en-noun

command (countable and uncountable, plural commands)

From Middle English commanden, commaunden, comaunden, comanden, from Old French comander, from Late Latin commandāre, from Latin commendāre. Compare commend (a doublet), and mandate.

He's got good command tonight.

(baseball) The degree of control a pitcher has over his pitches.


triple

PIE word
 *tréyes
From Middle English triple (also þripell), from Latin triplus. Doublet of treble.

The shortstop hit a triple to lead off the ninth.


triple

en-verb

triple (third-person singular simple present triples, present participle tripling, simple past and past participle tripled)

triples (present singular third-person)
tripling (participle present)
tripled (participle past)
tripled (past)

The batter tripled into the gap.


bunt

en-noun

bunt (countable and uncountable, plural bunts)

Unknown. Perhaps a nasalised variant of butt.

The bunt was fielded cleanly.

(baseball, softball) A ball that has been intentionally hit softly so as to be difficult to field, sometimes with a hands-spread batting stance or with a close-hand, choked-up hand position. No swinging action is involved.

The manager will likely call for a bunt here.

(baseball, softball) The act of bunting.


bunt

en-verb

bunt (third-person singular simple present bunts, present participle bunting, simple past and past participle bunted)

bunts (present singular third-person)
bunting (participle present)
bunted (participle past)
bunted (past)

Jones bunted the ball.

(transitive, baseball) To intentionally hit softly with a hands-spread batting stance.

Jones bunted.

(intransitive, baseball) To intentionally hit a ball softly with a hands-spread batting stance.


duff

en-noun

duff (countable and uncountable, plural duffs)

Uncertain; probably related to Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“to whisk, smoke, darken, obscure”).


looper

With one out and runners on second and third, Cavan Biggio hit a looper up the middle that eluded hustling shortstop Tim Anderson in short centre field.

2022 June 22, Jay Cohen, “Blue Jays' woes continue as Harrison's walk-off single in 12th inning wins it for White Sox”, in CBC News, archived from the original on 2022-06-25:

(baseball) Synonym of blooper (“a fly ball that is weakly hit just over the infielders”).


balk

From Middle English balke, from Old English balca, either from or influenced by Old Norse bálkr (“partition, ridge of land”), from Proto-Germanic *balkô. Cognate with Dutch balk (“balk”), German Balken (“balk”), Italian balcone (“balcony”).

(baseball) An illegal motion by the pitcher, intended to deceive a runner.


mound

From earlier meaning "hedge, fence", from Middle English mound, mund (“protection, boundary, raised earthen rampart”), from Old English mund (“hand, hand of protection, protector, guardianship”), from Proto-West Germanic *mundu, from Proto-Germanic *mundō (“hand”), *munduz (“protection, patron”), from Proto-Indo-European *mh₂-nt-éh₂ (“the beckoning one”), from *(s)meh₂- (“to beckon”).
Cognate with Old Frisian mund (“guardianship”), Old High German munt (“hand, protection”) (German Mündel (“ward”), Vormund (“a guardian”)), Old Norse mund (“hand”) (Icelandic mund), Middle Dutch mond (“protection”), and possibly Latin manus (“hand”), Ancient Greek μάρη (márē, “hand”).

cog

The pitcher was waiting at the mound.

(baseball) Elevated area of dirt upon which the pitcher stands to pitch.


foul

en-adj

foul (comparative fouler, superlative foulest)

fouler (comparative)
foulest (superlative)

Inherited from Middle English foul, from Old English fūl (“foul, dirty, unclean, impure, vile, corrupt, rotten, stinking, guilty”), from Proto-West Germanic *fūl, from Proto-Germanic *fūlaz (“foul, rotten”), from Proto-Indo-European *puH- (“to rot”).
Cognate with Dutch vuil (“foul, dirty, filthy, obscene, lewd”), German faul (“foul, rotten, putrid, lazy”), German Low German fuul (“foul, rotten, putrid”), Faroese fúlur (“foul”), Icelandic fúll (“foul, rotten, sullen”), Danish ful (“nasty, ugly”), Norwegian Bokmål ful (“clever, sly”), Norwegian Bokmål ful (“clever, sly”) and Swedish ful (“ugly, dirty, bad”), and through Indo-European, with Albanian fëlliq (“to make dirty”), Latin puter (“rotten”). More at putrid.
Ancient Greek φαῦλος (phaûlos, “bad”) is a false cognate inasmuch as it is not from the same etymon, instead being cognate to few.

cog

Jones hit foul ball after foul ball.

(baseball) Outside of the base lines; in foul territory.

оплетен

having freedom of motion interfered with by collision or entanglement


foul

en-verb

foul (third-person singular simple present fouls, present participle fouling, simple past and past participle fouled)

fouls (present singular third-person)
fouling (participle present)
fouled (participle past)
fouled (past)

Inherited from Middle English foulen, fulen, from Old English fūlian (“to become foul; rot; decay”), from Proto-West Germanic *fūlēn, from Proto-Germanic *fūlāną (“to rot; decay”).

der

Jones fouled the ball off the facing of the upper deck.

(transitive, baseball) To hit outside of the baselines.

Jones fouled for strike one.

(intransitive, baseball) To hit a ball outside of the baselines.


foul

→ Cantonese: foul

→ Polish: faul

→ Russian: фол (fol)

→ Turkish: faul

Jones hit a foul up over the screen.

(baseball) A foul ball, a ball which has been hit outside of the base lines.


behind

From Middle English behinde, behinden, from Old English behindan (“on the back side of, behind”), from Proto-West Germanic *bihindan, *bihindini (“on the back side of, in the rear of, behind”), from Proto-West Germanic *bi- + *hindō (“the hind side, back part”), equivalent to be- + hind. Compare Old Saxon bihindan (“behind”, adverb), Middle High German behinter (“behind; back”).


gap

From Middle English gap, gappe, from Old Norse gap (“an empty space, gap, chasm”), from gapa (“to gape, scream”), from Proto-Germanic *gapōną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₂- (“to open wide, gape”). Related to Danish gab (“an expanse, space, gap”), Old English ġeap (“open space, expanse”); compare English gape.

cog

Jones doubled through the gap.

(baseball) The regions between the outfielders.


splitter

lumper

antonym(s) of “one who prefers to split categories”

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-splitter.wav

split-finger fastball
split-finger fastball


retire

en-verb

retire (third-person singular simple present retires, present participle retiring, simple past and past participle retired)

retires (present singular third-person)
retiring (participle present)
retired (participle past)
retired (past)

/ɹəˈtaɪə(ɹ)/

From Middle French retirer (“draw back”), from Old French retirer, built from re- (“back”) + tirer (“draw, pull”), the latter from Vulgar Latin *tīrāre, of highly uncertain origin.

Jones retired Smith 6-3.

Jones makes the catch for the third out, and that retires the side.

(transitive, baseball, of a fielder) To make a play which results in a runner or the batter being out, either by means of a put out, fly out or strikeout. Also, when such an event ends a team's turn at bat.

polttaa

baseball: to make a play which results in a runner or the batter being out


blind

From Middle English blynd, from Old English blind, from Proto-West Germanic *blind, from Proto-Germanic *blindaz.


DFA

(baseball) Initialism of designated for assignment.


fungo

Uncertain; perhaps from Scots fung (“to fling, throw”).

The fielding coach played fungo with the outfielders to warm them up.

Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter aren’t going to China to […] hit fungoes to wide-eyed Chinese kids.

2007 January 25, Murray Chass, “Yanks Hope to Get a Jump in China”, in New York Times:

(baseball) A fielding practice drill where a person hits fly balls intended to be caught.

He is so strong he could hit it out of the park with a fungo.


fungo

fungo (third-person singular simple present fungos, present participle fungoing, simple past and past participle fungoed)

fungos (present singular third-person)
fungoing (participle present)
fungoed (participle past)
fungoed (past)

(baseball) To take part in a fielding practice drill where a person hits fly balls intended to be caught.


bush

(baseball) Amateurish behavior, short for "bush league behavior"


shift

en-noun

shift (countable and uncountable, plural shifts)

From Middle English schiften, from Old English sċiftan (“to divide, separate into shares; appoint, ordain; arrange, organise”), from Proto-Germanic *skiftijaną, *skiptijaną, from earlier *skipatjaną (“to organise, put in order”), from Proto-Indo-European *skeyb- (“to separate, divide, part”), from Proto-Indo-European *skey- (“to cut, divide, separate, part”). Cognate with Scots schift, skift (“to shift”), West Frisian skifte, skiftsje (“to sort”), Dutch schiften (“to sort, screen, winnow, part”), German schichten (“to stack, layer”), Swedish skifta (“to shift, change, exchange, vary”), Norwegian skifte (“to shift”), Icelandic skipta (“to switch”). See ship.

cog

Teams often use a shift against this lefty.


stand-up

en-adj

stand-up (comparative more stand-up, superlative most stand-up)

more stand-up (comparative)
most stand-up (superlative)

stand-up double; stand-up triple

(baseball, of a hit) That allows the batter to advance to a given base (usually second or third) without having to slide.


goner

From gone + -er. First attestations around 1850.

(baseball slang) A ball hit out of the playing area for a home run.


salami

en-noun

salami (countable and uncountable, plural salamis)

From Italian salami, plural of salame (“salami”), from sale (“salt”), from Latin sal.


movement

movement (countable and uncountable, plural movements)

From Middle English mevement, from Old French movement (modern French mouvement), from movoir + -ment; cf. also Medieval Latin movimentum, from Latin movere (“move”). Doublet of moment and momentum. In this sense, displaced native Old English styring, which led to Modern English stirring.
Morphologically move + -ment.

eye movement desensitization and reprocessing

The movement on his cutter was devastating.

(baseball) The deviation of a pitch from ballistic flight.


batting order

(cricket, baseball, softball) The sequence in which a side's batsmen go in to bat.


batting average

batting average (plural batting averages)

Jones has a .279 batting average.

(baseball) A statistical estimation of the hitting ability of a batter, equal to the number of hits divided by the number of official at-bats. Normally expressed as a real number instead of an average despite the name.


sink

a bathroom sink sink (canonical)
sinks (plural)

From Middle English synken, from Old English sincan, from Proto-West Germanic *sinkwan, from Proto-Germanic *sinkwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sengʷ- (“to fall, sink”).
Compare West Frisian sinke, Low German sinken, Dutch zinken, German sinken, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål synke, Swedish sjunka. In the causative sense, it replaced Old English senċan (“make sink”) from Proto-Germanic *sankwijaną.

der

Jones has a two-seamer with heavy sink.

(uncountable) Descending motion; descent.

(baseball) The motion of a sinker pitch.

Descending motion; descent.
The motion of a sinker pitch.


umpire

From a Middle English rebracketing of a noumpere as an oumpere, from Old French nonper (“odd number, not even (as a tie-breaking arbitrator)”), from non (“not”) + per (“equal”), from Latin par (“equal”). Doublet of nonpareil.

съдия

an official who oversees a game or match

The umpire called the pitch a strike.

(baseball) One of the officials who preside over a baseball game.


screen

From Middle English scren, screne (“windscreen, firescreen”), from Anglo-Norman escren (“firescreen, the tester of a bed”), Old French escren, escrein, escran (modern French écran (“screen”)), from Middle Dutch scherm, from Old Dutch *skirm, from Proto-West Germanic *skirmi, from Proto-Germanic *skirmiz (“fur, shelter, covering, screen”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut, divide”).
Cognate with Dutch scherm (“screen”), German Schirm (“screen”). Doublet of scherm.
An alternative etymology derives Old French escren, escran from Old Dutch *scranc (“barrier”) (compare Middle Dutch schranc, schranke (“palisade, trellis, grid”), German Schrank (“cupboard, cabinet”), German Schranke (“fence”)), from Proto-West Germanic *skrank, from Proto-Germanic *skrankaz.

Jones caught the foul up against the screen.

A material woven from fine wires intended to block animals or large particles from passing while allowing gasses, liquids and finer particles to pass.

(baseball) The protective netting which protects the audience from flying objects


cutter

From Middle English cutter, cuttere, kutter. By surface analysis, cut + -er.


fielder

From Middle English feldere (“one who works in the field; rustic”), from Old English feldeware (“field-dweller”), equivalent to field + -er. The baseball sense is from 1832.

inh

(baseball, softball) A defensive player in the field.


corner

→ German: Corner

→ Japanese: コーナー (kōnā)

From Middle English corner, from Anglo-Norman cornere (compare Old French cornier, corniere (“corner”)), from Old French corne (“corner, angle”, literally “a horn, projecting point”), from Vulgar Latin *corna (“horn”), from Latin cornua, plural of cornū (“projecting point, end, horn”). The sense of "angle, corner" in Old French is not found in Latin or other Romance languages. It was possibly calqued from Frankish *hurnijā (“corner, angle”), which is similar to, and derived from *hurn, the Frankish word for "horn". Displaced native cognate Middle English hirn, herne, from Old English hyrne, from Proto-Germanic *hurnijǭ (“little horn, hook, angle, corner”), whence modern English hirn (“nook, corner”), itself related to horn.

nurkka

business: interest that is sufficient for price manipulation

The pitch was just off the corner, low and outside.

(heading) Relating to the playing field.

(baseball) One of the four vertices of the strike zone.

There are runners on the corners with just one out.

Relating to the playing field.
First base or third base.


assist

From Middle English assisten, from Old French assister (“to assist, to attend”), from Latin assistō (“stand at, bestand”, verb).

der

He had two assists in the game.

(sports) The act of helping another player score points or goals

(baseball) A defensive play, allowing a teammate to record a putout.


pickle

en-noun

pickle (countable and uncountable, plural pickles)

→ Dutch: pickles

→ French: pickles

→ Irish: picil

→ Korean: 피클 (pikeul)

→ Portuguese: picles

→ Spanish: pickles, picle

→ Welsh: picil

From Middle English pikel (“spicy sauce served with meat or fish”), borrowed from Middle Dutch, Middle Low German pekel (“brine”). Cognate with Scots pikkill (“salt liquor, brine”), Saterland Frisian Piekele (“pickle, brine”), Dutch pekel (“pickle, brine”), Low German pekel, peckel, pickel, bickel (“pickle, brine”), German Pökel (“pickle, brine”).

cog

Jones was caught in a pickle between second and third.


zone

→ Korean: 존 (jon)

→ Punjabi: ਜ਼ੋਨ (zon)

From Latin zōna, from Ancient Greek ζώνη (zṓnē, “girdle, belt”).

der

That pitch was low and away, just outside the zone.


WS

en-noun

WS (countable and uncountable, plural WSs)

(baseball) Initialism of World Series, a best of seven game series played annually to determine the championship of United States professional baseball.


crank

From Dutch or Low German krank, ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *krank, from Proto-Germanic *krangaz, *krankaz (“bent; weak”). Cognate with Scots crank, krank, German krank (“sick”).

(archaic, baseball, slang, 1800s) A baseball fan.


grand slam

(baseball) The hitting of a home run with the bases loaded.

gran eslam

(baseball) a home run with the bases loaded


hat trick

From hat + trick (“element of a magician’s or variety entertainer’s act; entertaining and difficult physical action”, noun). Sense 2 (“achievement of a bowler taking three wickets in three consecutive balls”)—the original sporting sense—refers to the commemorative hat formerly given as a prize to the bowler by his club.

هاتريك

three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.

שלושער m (shloshá'ar, literally “three-gate or goal”)

གསུམ་སྦྲགས (gsum sbrags, literally “pack-of-three”)

Jones got a hat trick yesterday. Let’s see if he can do better today.

(cricket) An achievement of a bowler taking three wickets in three consecutive balls.

(by extension, sports) Three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc., such as three consecutive wins.

(specifically, baseball, ironic) The act of striking out three times in a game.


bottom of the ninth

Bottom, from the home team's location below visitors on the scoreboard; ninth from the number of innings in a baseball game.

Hitting a home run with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth let the home team finish ahead of the visitors.

(baseball) The second part of the ninth and final inning; the end of the game.


closer

From Middle English closere, equivalent to close (verb) + -er.

They brought their closer in for the ninth.

(baseball) A relief pitcher who specializes in getting the last three outs of the game.


opener

オープナー

baseball pitcher who starts the game, but is planned to have a short outing

The Rays debuted the opener—in which a reliever starts the game and throws anywhere from one to three innings, then gives way to a new pitcher, who will usually throw three to five as essentially a second starter—on May 19 against the Angels, using veteran righty Sergio Romo to pitch the first.

2018 August 23, Jon Tayler, “How the Tampa Bay Rays Reinvented the Concept of Starting Pitching”, in Sports Illustrated:

(baseball) A pitcher who specializes in getting the first outs of a game before being replaced, either by a long reliever or a pitcher who would normally start.


foul out

A foul out was recorded on the scorecard.


foul out

en-verb

foul out (third-person singular simple present fouls out, present participle fouling out, simple past and past participle fouled out)

fouls out (present singular third-person)
fouling out (participle present)
fouled out (participle past)
fouled out (past)

He fouled out to lead off the third.

(baseball) To become out by hitting a foul ball which is caught.


give up

give up (third-person singular simple present gives up, present participle giving up, simple past gave up, past participle given up)

gives up (present singular third-person)
giving up (participle present)
gave up (past)
given up (participle past)

A good pitcher will give up very few home runs.

Fiers, who now pitches for the Oakland Athletics, has gone 27-12 with a no-hitter in two years since leaving the Astros. But the last time he faced them, on Sept. 9, he gave up nine runs, including five homers, and got just three outs.

2019 November 14, Tyler Kepner, “After Reports of Astros’ Cheating, M.L.B. Is Left to Restore Trust”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-01-15:

(transitive, baseball) Of a pitcher: to allow a hitter to make (a certain play).


seventh inning stretch

en-noun

seventh inning stretch (plural seventh inning stretches)

(baseball) A more extended than usual break taken between the top half and the bottom half of the seventh inning.


infield

They covered the infield with a tarp when it started to rain.

(baseball) The region of the field roughly bounded by the home plate, first base, second base and third base.

camp interior

baseball: The region of the field roughly bounded by the home plate, first base, second base and third base.

Jones ran out an infield single.

(baseball) (as a modifier, functioning as an adjective) Of an event, happening in the infield.

etukenttä-

baseball: (as a modifier, functioning as an adjective) Of an event, happening in the infield.


lineout

(baseball) An out produced by catching a line drive.


farmhand

(baseball) A player in the minor leagues.


choke

en-verb

choke (third-person singular simple present chokes, present participle choking, simple past and past participle choked)

chokes (present singular third-person)
choking (participle present)
choked (participle past)
choked (past)

From Middle English choken (also cheken), from earlier acheken, from Old English āċēocian (“to choke”), probably derived from Old English ċēoce, ċēace (“jaw, cheek”), see cheek. Cognate with Icelandic kok (“throat”), koka (“to gulp”). See also achoke.

Take a grip with your right hand, slightly choked down from your normal grip.

2014, Roger Fredericks, The Flexible Golf Swing, page 108:

(golf, baseball, transitive) To hold the club or bat lower on the shaft in order to shorten one's swing.


batting

en-noun

batting (countable and uncountable, plural battings)

(cricket, baseball) The action of using a bat.


windmill

From Middle English wyndmylne, wyndmylle, equivalent to wind + mill. Cognate with Scots wyndmyln, wyndmyl, Saterland Frisian Wíendmäälne, West Frisian wynmûne, Dutch windmolen, Afrikaans windmeul, Dutch Low Saxon windmölle (Achterhooks), wiendmeule (Drents, Veluws), German Low German Windmöhl, German Windmühle, Danish vindmølle, Norwegian Bokmål vindmølle, Norwegian Nynorsk vindmølle, vindmylne, Swedish vindmölla, Icelandic vindmylla.

(baseball) A pitch where the pitcher swings his arm in a circular motion before throwing the ball.


pill

* From Middle English pille (also pillem), a borrowing from Middle Low German pille or Middle Dutch pille (whence Dutch pil), probably from Latin pila, pilula.
* (persuade or convince): Generalized from red pill.

"Strike two!" bawled the umpire. I threw the pill back to Tom with a heart which drummed above the noise of the rooters along the side lines.

Mr. Fisher contributed to the Sox effort when he threw the pill past second baseman Rath after Felsch hit him a comebacker.

2002, John Klima, Pitched Battle: 35 of Baseball's Greatest Duels from the Mound:


willow

willow (countable and uncountable, plural willows)

From Middle English wilwe, welew, variant of wilghe, from Old English welig, from Proto-West Germanic *wilig, from Proto-Germanic *wiligaz, from Proto-Indo-European *welik- (compare (Arcadian) Ancient Greek ἑλίκη (helíkē), Hittite 𒌑𒂖𒆪 (welku, “grass”)), from *wel- (“twist, turn”).

(baseball, slang, 1800s) The baseball bat.


airmail

en-verb

airmail (third-person singular simple present airmails, present participle airmailing, simple past and past participle airmailed)

airmails (present singular third-person)
airmailing (participle present)
airmailed (participle past)
airmailed (past)

(baseball) To (unintentionally) throw the ball well over a fielder's head where that fielder is unable to make a play on the ball.


cleanup

en-noun

cleanup (countable and uncountable, plural cleanups)

Jones will be batting cleanup in tonight's game.

The starting lineup for Newark consisted of Johnny Neun leading off at first base; the number two hitter was catcher Norman Kies; batting third and playing second base was Andy Cohen; at cleanup was "The People's Cherce," Dixie Walker; George Selkirk was hitting fifth and playing right field; Bob Barrett was at third base and hitting sixth; Jess Hill was the number seven batter in left field; Red Rolfe batted eighth and played shortstop; and the right-hander, George Miner, was on the mound.

1994, Ronald A. Mayer, The 1937 Newark Bears: A Baseball Legend, →ISBN, page 27:

There it was: McDougald at cleanup, and DiMaggio fifth.

2000, Richard Ben Cramer, Joe DiMaggio: The Hero's Life, →ISBN, page 528:

I had been getting hits off Jim Palmer and had a streak going and went from hitting 8th to 7th, to 6th, 5th, and then finally McKeon put me in at cleanup.

2010, Kenneth Hogan, Batting 10th for the Yankees, →ISBN:

(baseball) Fourth in the batting order; a cleanup hitter.


whiff

The noun is possibly:
* partly a variant of Middle English wef, weffe (“bad smell, stench, stink; exhalation; vapour; tendency of something to go bad (?)”) [and other forms], possibly a variant of either:
** waf, waif, waife (“odour, scent”), possibly from waven (“to move to and fro, sway, wave; to stray, wander; to move in a weaving manner; (figuratively) to hesitate, vacillate”), from Old English wafian (“to wave”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“to braid, weave”); or
** wef (“a blow, stroke”), from weven (“to travel, wander; to move to and fro, flutter, waver; to blow something away, waft; to cause something to move; to fall; to cut deeply; to sever; to give up, yield; to give deference to; to avoid; to afflict, trouble; to beckon, signal”); further etymology uncertain, perhaps from Old English wefan (“to weave”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“to braid, weave”)), or from wǣfan (see bewǣfan, ymbwǣfan); and
* partly onomatopoeic.
Noun sense 6 (“name of a number of flatfish”) is possibly derived from sense 1 (“brief, gentle breeze; a light gust of air”), sense 4 (“small quantity of cloud, smoke, vapour, etc.”), and other such senses.
The verb and adjective are derived from the noun. Verb sense 2.6 (“to catch fish by dragging a handline near the surface of the water from a moving boat”) is possibly derived from sense 1.1 (“to carry or convey (something) by, or as by, a whiff or puff of air”), sense 2.2 (“to be carried, or move as if carried, by a puff of air”), and other such senses.
The interjection is derived from noun sense 7.4 (“a sound like that of air passing through a small opening; a short or soft whistle”).

дъх

short inhalation or exhalation of breath

(sports, chiefly US, slang) A failure to hit a ball in various sports (for example, golf); a miss.

(baseball) From the batter's perspective: a strike.


whiff

en-verb

whiff (third-person singular simple present whiffs, present participle whiffing, simple past and past participle whiffed)

whiffs (present singular third-person)
whiffing (participle present)
whiffed (participle past)
whiffed (past)

(US, baseball) Of a pitcher: to strike out (a batter); to fan.


rundown

→ Spanish: rondón

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-rundown.wav

Smith is caught in a rundown, but Jones will come around to score.

(baseball) A defensive play in which the runner is caught between two fielders, who steadily converge to tag the runner out.


throw someone a curve

throw someone a curve (third-person singular simple present throws someone a curve, present participle throwing someone a curve, simple past threw someone a curve, past participle thrown someone a curve)

throws someone a curve (present singular third-person)
throwing someone a curve (participle present)
threw someone a curve (past)
thrown someone a curve (participle past)

From the curve ball in baseball, where a spin is employed to adjust the path of the ball unexpectedly.

(baseball) Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: To pitch a curve ball.


hummer

Branca, concentrating so intently that he didn't hear the braying crowd, threw a hummer down the middle.

2015, Andrew Goldblatt, The Giants and the Dodgers, page 115:


shoestring

The noun is derived from shoe + string. The adjective is derived from the noun, while the verb is derived from terms such as shoestring catch and shoestring tackle.

(US, chiefly American football, baseball) Of a catch or tackle: made near the ground, close to a player's shoes.

jalka-

of a catch or tackle: made near the ground, close to a player’s shoes


shoestring

shoestring (third-person singular simple present shoestrings, present participle shoestringing, simple past and past participle shoestringed)

shoestrings (present singular third-person)
shoestringing (participle present)
shoestringed (participle past)
shoestringed (past)

We didn't score in our half of the eighth, but it was only because Ernie's line drive was shoestringed by the Giant left fielder, with Rusty Howarth on second.

1976, Paul R. Rothweiler, The Sensuous Southpaw […], New York, N.Y.: Putnam, →ISBN, page 104:

Most outfielders say that short-hopping a ball so that it looks as if it was caught is more an accident than an art form, but Coach Joe Nossek of the Indians actually tells his charges to hold up the ball after shoestringing it on the off chance that the umpire might be fooled.

1981 April 13, Steve Wulf, “Tricks of the Trade”, in Sports Illustrated Baseball: Four Decades of Sports Illustrated’s Finest Writing on America’s Favorite Pastime (Collector’s Library), Birmingham, Ala.: Oxmoor House, published 1994, →ISBN, page 275:

shoestring catch
shoestring catch#English

(transitive, baseball) To catch (a ball) using a shoestring catch (“one made near the ground, close to a player's shoes”).

ottaa koppi matalalta

to catch (a ball) using a shoestring catch


rotation

en-noun

rotation (countable and uncountable, plural rotations)

/ɹoʊˈteɪʃən/

Borrowed from Latin rotatiō. By surface analysis, rotate + -ion.

(baseball) The set of starting pitchers of a team.


ERA

ERA (countable and uncountable, plural ERAs)

earned run average
earned run average#English

(baseball) Initialism of earned run average, a baseball statistic.


loaded

en-adj

loaded (comparative more loaded, superlative most loaded)

more loaded (comparative)
most loaded (superlative)

It's bottom of the ninth, the bases are loaded and there are two outs.

(baseball) Pertaining to a situation where there is a runner at each of the three bases.

täynnä

baseball: when there is a runner at each of the three bases


flare

→ Italian: flare

Origin unknown, first recorded in the mid 16th century, probably related to Latin flagrō (“I burn”). Norwegian flara (“to blaze; to flaunt in gaudy attire”) has a similar meaning, but the English word predates it. Possibly related to Middle High German vlederen (“to flutter”), represented by modern German flattern.
The noun is derived from the verb.

unknown

Origin unknown

ярка светлина

source of brightly burning light or intense heat

Stulp

widening of an object with otherwise roughly constant width

разкрояване

widening of the lower legs of trousers and jeans

Jones hits a little flare to left that falls for a single.

An observant base runner checks the outfield defense and easily goes from first to third when the batter hits a flare to right field. A base runner who does not observe the depth of the outfield must turn to watch the ball, see it drop, and then run. He probably doesn't make it to third base.

2008, Mark Gola, “Character”, in Baseball’s Sixth Tool: Playing the Mental Game to Get the Competitive Edge, New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill, →ISBN, page 7:

(baseball) A low fly ball that is hit in the region between the infielders and the outfielders.


banjo hitter

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-banjo hitter.wav

From the twanging sound of the batter's swing, like that of a banjo.

Aluminum bats, which had replaced wood in the college game in 1974, were so potent they made Babe Ruths out of banjo hitters.

(baseball) a batter who lacks power, usually hits bloop singles, and would have a low slugging percentage.


Athletic

Smith became an Athletic as a result of a pre-season trade.

(baseball) A player on the team Oakland Athletics.


Athletics

(baseball) The team The Oakland Athletics, previously Kansas City Athletics and Philadelphia Athletics.


Brewer

(baseball) A player for the Milwaukee Brewers.


Cub

Jones became a Cub as the result of a pre-season trade.

(baseball) A player on the team the "Chicago Cubs".


Cardinal

Smith became a Cardinal as the result of a pre-season trade.

(baseball) A player on the St. Louis Cardinals team.


Giant

(baseball) A player for the San Francisco Giants.


Angel

Smith became an Angel as a result of a pre-season trade.

(baseball) A player on the team the "Los Angeles Angels" or one of its predecessor "Angels" teams.


Mariner

Jones became a Mariner as the result of a pre-season trade.

(baseball) A player on the team the Seattle Mariners.


Met

(baseball) A player for the New York Mets.


Padre

Jones became a Padre as the result of a pre-season trade.

(baseball) A player for the San Diego Padres.


CG

(baseball) Initialism of complete games; the statistic reporting the number of games thrown by a pitcher.


G

en-noun

G (countable and uncountable, plural Gs)

(sports, baseball) Games (the statistic reporting the number of games that a player has participated in).


R

(baseball, cricket) runs, the statistic reporting the number of runs scored by a player


mop up

en-verb

mop up (third-person singular simple present mops up, present participle mopping up, simple past and past participle mopped up)

mops up (present singular third-person)
mopping up (participle present)
mopped up (participle past)
mopped up (past)

(baseball) To pitch the final innings especially of a game that is no longer close.


touch base

touch base (third-person singular simple present touches base, present participle touching base, simple past and past participle touched base)

touches base (present singular third-person)
touching base (participle present)
touched base (participle past)
touched base (past)

(baseball, literally) To touch a base, usually with a foot but sometimes with a hand.


K

Abbreviations.
# (stenoscript) Abbreviation of counter, prefix counter-, sequence contr.

ng

prefix <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">counter-</i>, sequence contr.

(baseball) Abbreviation of strikeout. On a baseball scorecard, a frontwards K signifies striking out while swinging the bat, while a backwards K signifies striking out while looking.


ER

en-noun

ER (countable and uncountable, plural ERs)


no-no

must

antonym(s) of “something forbidden, ...”

no no

often found in texts without the hyphen.

He threw two no-nos in his career.

(baseball, colloquial) A no-hitter; a game in which no batter on one of the teams got a hit.


HR

HR (countable and uncountable, plural HRs)

/eɪt͡ʃ ɑː(ɹ)/

(baseball) Initialism of home runs (in statistics).


FC

FC (countable and uncountable, plural FCs)

fielder's choice
fielder's choice#English

(baseball) Initialism of fielder's choice.


DP

DP (countable and uncountable, plural DPs)

(baseball, softball) Initialism of double play.


LF

LF (countable and uncountable, plural LFs)

(baseball) Initialism of left field, Initialism of left fielder.


derrick

en-verb

derrick (third-person singular simple present derricks, present participle derricking, simple past and past participle derricked)

derricks (present singular third-person)
derricking (participle present)
derricked (participle past)
derricked (past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-derrick.wav

Named after British executioner Thomas Derrick, who invented the framework arrangement commonly known by this name to aid in the conduct of executions. First use appears c. 1600 in the publication Ballad Death Earl Essex.

named-after

Stinky, who had batted a bit over .200 with scant power (two home runs in 66 games in 1933), was being derricked by Navin.

As a rule, when the twirler is derricked, it is because the members of the opposition are beginning to take undue familiarity with his offerings. But this is not always the reason.

2014, Addie Joss, Gary Mitchem, Addie Joss on Baseball, page 96:

(transitive, baseball, informal) To remove (a pitcher).


pitcher

A “pitchometer” was installed on the scoreboard to time the pitchers. According the baseball rules a pitcher had to throw a pitch within 20 seconds after he received the ball from the catcher when there was nobody on base.

2003, John E. Peterson, The Kansas City Athletics: A Baseball History: 1954–1967, Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 210:

(baseball, softball) The player who delivers the ball to the batter.

питчър

the player who throws the ball to the batter


slugfest

Originally US, from slug (“to hit very hard”) + -fest.

The game turned into a 15-9 slugfest.

In a World Series that has come to be defined by the unpredictable and unexpected, it was only fitting that one night, after a lights-out pitchers’ duel between the heretofore unremarkable Alex Wood and Charlie Morton, a slugfest would unfold that sent the Cy Young Award winners Clayton Kershaw and Dallas Keuchel to early exits.

2017 October 30, Billy Witz, “Astros Down the Dodgers in a Dramatic and Dizzying Slugfest”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(baseball, slang) A baseball game in which many runs are scored, especially by home runs.


cut fastball

His cut fastball tends to break bats.

(baseball) A pitch thrown with an offset grip and a moderate amount of added pressure by middle finger yielding a combination of backspin and some sidespin, resulting in motion to the left when thrown by a right handed pitcher with velocity only slightly diminished from that of a fastball


fastball

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The pitcher had a blazing fastball.

(specifically) A four-seam fastball, which is a backspin pitch thrown with a ball gripped in the direction to cause four of the seams of the ball to cross the flight path and released with roughly equal pressure by the index and middle fingers


infielder

The infielder run in to field the bunt.

(cricket, baseball) A player who plays in the infield, which is the inner portion of the field.


four-seam fastball

en-noun

four-seam fastball (plural four-seam fastballs)

(baseball) A backspin pitch thrown with a ball gripped in the direction to cause four of the seams of the ball to cross the flight path and released with roughly equal pressure by the index and middle fingers


two-seam fastball

two-seam fastball (plural two-seam fastballs)

His two-seamer has a heavy sink and keeps the infielders busy.

(baseball) A pitch thrown with a grip in the "horseshoe" orientation of the ball, with the rotation at a slight angle resulting in less Magnus effect as compared to a four-seam fastball since only two of the ball's seams cross the flight path; the pitch is delivered with a similar velocity as a four-seam fastball, but has a degree of sink.


outfielder

The outfielder tracked down the long fly.

. I like to think that if I wasn't pitcher I could be an outfielder or a first baseman or something and play major league baseball anyway.

1973 January 4, Wells Twombly, “Now the 10th man”, in The New York Times:

The Twins are known for their fascination with toolsy and athletic outfielders, but Hicks has the most talent of any Twins draft pick since Joe Mauer in 2002.

2008 November 6, “Breaking down the draft, Part 1”, in The Hardball Times:

(cricket, baseball) A player that plays in the outfield, which is the outer portion of the field.


knuckler

Fowler flung a stiff-wrist knuckler that hung in the air without spin before it took a sudden dip, but Roy scooped it up with the stick and lifted it twenty rows up into the center field stands.

1952, Bernard Malamud, chapter 2, in The Natural:


split-finger fastball

split-finger fastball (plural split-finger fastballs)

His strikeout pitch was his split-finger fastball.

(baseball) A moderate rotation speed backspin pitch thrown with a ball gripped between the index finger and middle finger; it has good velocity, may have a precessing spin, and sinks as it approaches the plate.


home run

Spanish: jonrón

The first baseman hit a home run to lead off the ninth.

(baseball) A four-base hit, allowing the batter to circle the bases and reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team.


line drive

The line drive went straight into the shortstop's glove.

(baseball, softball) A batted ball hit hard enough and low enough that it appears to travel in a relatively straight line.


change-up

The pitcher had a devastating change-up.

(baseball) A pitch thrown with the arm motion of a fastball, but which travels at a much slower velocity because it is released without the fingers adding power to the delivery.


outfield

He hit a long fly ball to the outfield in the gap to left.

(baseball, softball) The region of the field between the infield and the outer fence.


outfield

en-verb

outfield (third-person singular simple present outfields, present participle outfielding, simple past and past participle outfielded)

outfields (present singular third-person)
outfielding (participle present)
outfielded (participle past)
outfielded (past)

A special dispatch sent to The Cincinnati Enquirer on the game stated that the Buckeyes outfielded and outplayed the Grays at every point, and that had the Bucks run for first base instead of watching the ball after they hit it, they would have increased the score.

2005, William A. Cook, The Louisville Grays Scandal of 1877: The Taint of Gambling at the Dawn of the National League, McFarland, →ISBN, page 118:

(baseball, cricket) To perform better in defense (fielding).


strikeout

en-noun

strikeout (countable and uncountable, plural strikeouts)

The pitcher recorded seven strikeouts in the game.

(countable, baseball) An instance or the act of striking out.


curveball

He bit on a curveball in the dirt.

(baseball) A forespin pitch thrown by rotating the index and middle fingers down and resulting in motion down "curve"


curveball

en-verb

curveball (third-person singular simple present curveballs, present participle curveballing, simple past and past participle curveballed)

curveballs (present singular third-person)
curveballing (participle present)
curveballed (participle past)
curveballed (past)

Even though the haughty physics professors at the elite school ridiculed his declaration that he could make a baseball curve, Cummings just laughed it off and said, “I curveballed them to death,” according to Frederick Ivor-Campbell.

2006, William F. McNeil, The Evolution of Pitching in Major League Baseball, McFarland, →ISBN, page 21:

The news curveballed him. He'd been hamstrung and schizzed all the preceding weeks. He brooded in his den.

2009, James Ellroy, Blood's a Rover, Random House, →ISBN, page 566:


homer

The first baseman hit a homer to lead off the ninth.

The Mets got that four-run cushion in the seventh when George Foster stepped in as a pinch-hitter and hit a two-run homer for the 5-1 final.

1983 June 27, Kevin Dupont, “METS GAIN SPLIT; STAUB TIES MARK”, in The New York Times:


homer

homer (third-person singular simple present homers, present participle homering, simple past and past participle homered)

homers (present singular third-person)
homering (participle present)
homered (participle past)
homered (past)

The Sultan of Swat homered 714 times.

(US, baseball) To hit a homer; to hit a home run.


knuckleball

Even the pitcher doesn't know where his knuckleball is going.

Boston Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield is best known for his use of the knuckleball.

(baseball) A pitch thrown with the ball gripped on the fingertips and released with no rotation, which travels over an unpredictable path to the plate due to micro-turbulence in the air.


knuckleball

knuckleball (third-person singular simple present knuckleballs, present participle knuckleballing, simple past and past participle knuckleballed)

knuckleballs (present singular third-person)
knuckleballing (participle present)
knuckleballed (participle past)
knuckleballed (past)

Varitek did not start so Kevin Cash could catch the knuckleballing starter Tim Wakefield.

2008 April 16, The Associated Press, “Tigers Rally Again to Defeat the Twins”, in New York Times:

(intransitive, baseball) To pitch knuckleballs.


sinker

His sinkers drew one ground ball after another.

(baseball) Any of several high speed pitches that have a downward motion near the plate; a two-seam fastball, a split-finger fastball, or a forkball.


strike out

strike out (third-person singular simple present strikes out, present participle striking out, simple past struck out, past participle struck out or (somewhat archaic) stricken out)

strikes out (present singular third-person)
striking out (participle present)
struck out (past)
struck out (participle past)
stricken out (archaic participle past)

Jones struck out on a nasty slider.

The pitcher struck out Jones with a nasty slider.

(ergative, baseball, softball) Of a batter, to be retired after three strikes (missed swings, as opposed to any other way of becoming "out"); of a pitcher, to cause this to happen to the batter.

palaa

baseball: to be retired after three missed swings

polttaa

baseball: to cause a batter to be retired after three missed swings


slider

From slide + -er.
The meaning "small hamburger" was originally used to describe onion-steamed small burgers at White Castle restaurants, formerly spelt "Slyder".
Regarding the senses about control devices or widgets: physical sliders (potentiometers serving as rheostats) predate virtual ones (elements in graphical user interfaces), and the virtual ones are so named because their concept is the abstraction of the physical ones; if more explanation on that topic is needed, it is available in the Wikipedia articles on skeuomorphs, icons, and the desktop metaphor.

The closer had a wicked slider that was almost unhittable.

(baseball) A pitch thrown with added pressure by middle and ring fingers yielding a combination of backspin and sidespin, resulting in a motion to the left when thrown by a right handed pitcher.


DL

en-noun

DL (countable and uncountable, plural DLs)


DL

en-verb

DL (third-person singular simple present DLs, present participle DLing, simple past and past participle DLed or DL'd)

DLs (present singular third-person)
DLing (participle present)
DLed (participle past)
DLed (past)
DL'd (participle past)
DL'd (past)

After 7 years of being in a rot league, I have learned that "day to day" in baseballese means "at least a week, maybe more, and maybe after the week, then we may DL him."

1996 June 3, Joe in MA [username], “Re: Jim Edmonds' return date?”, in rec.sport.baseball.fantasy (Usenet):

(baseball, transitive, informal) To place on the disabled list.


catcher

Finding Dempsey in my mind's eye in January was not quite startling, ...but some other catchers turned up in my hot-stove reveries as well. Bob Boone, for instance.

1989 February 13, Roger Angell, Season Ticket: A Baseball Companion, Ballantine Books, page 22:

A “pitchometer” was installed on the scoreboard to time the pitchers. According the baseball rules a pitcher had to throw a pitch within 20 seconds after he received the ball from the catcher when there was nobody on base.

At the plate the catcher is responsible for catching pitches, keeping mispitched balls in front of the plate, calling pitches that are normally done through hand signals, picking off runners, and they are considered the leaders of the field.

2021, University of the District of Columbia, “The plate umpire may suspend play because of darkness”, in Course Hero:

(baseball) The player that squats behind home plate and receives the pitches from the pitcher.


liner

From line (noun) + -er (relational suffix) or -er (measurement suffix) (sense 5).

The liner glanced off the pitcher's foot.

обшивка

liner, lining: inside covering (i.e. a jacket liner)


wind up

wind up (third-person singular simple present winds up, present participle winding up, simple past and past participle wound up)

winds up (present singular third-person)
winding up (participle present)
wound up (participle past)
wound up (past)

snitches get stitches and wind up in ditches

Paige seemed to be winding up for a fastball but then switched it up.

(baseball, intransitive) To make the preparatory movements for a certain kind of pitch.


twin killing

By grounding to the shortstop, the twin killing ended the inning.


hot corner

en-noun

hot corner (countable and uncountable, plural hot corners)

Because many hard-hit balls are hit there

Jones plays the hot corner.

Jones plays hot corner.

(baseball, countable, uncountable, usually with "the") Third base.


triple play

There has only been one unassisted triple play recorded in the World Series.

(baseball) A defensive play in which three outs are recorded.

triple eliminació

(baseball) a play where three outs are recorded


double play

It was a 6-4-3 double play.

(baseball, softball) A defensive play in which two outs are recorded.


bullpen

After that hit, there is activity in the bullpen.

Now the bullpens are hidden away underneath the bleachers, out of sight and sound.

2017 July 5, Billy Witz, “Camaraderie of Wrigley Field Bullpens Is Tangled Amid the Ivy”, in The New York Times:

Even though the Phillies bullpen has been a strength, it may be shopping for a veteran capable of handling the ninth inning.

2024 May 7, Greg Jewett, “Bullpen report: Porter Hodge enters Cubs’ circle of trust, Mason Miller cools down and more”, in The New York Times:

(baseball) An enclosed area for pitchers to warm up in during a game.

ブルペン

baseball: enclosed area for pitchers to warm up in during a game

Their bullpen is worn out after yesterday's doubleheader where both games went 12 innings.

(baseball) The relief pitchers of a team collectively.

vaihtosyöttäjät

baseball: relief pitchers of a team collectively


double switch

They did a double switch after the eighth so that Jones could bat second in the ninth.

(baseball) A replacement of two players simultaneously, typically so that a fielder can hit in the pitcher's spot in the batting order.


blown save

Our bullpen has too many blown saves.

(baseball) A failure to convert a save opportunity to a save.


empty base

They have to pitch to the slugger because there are no empty bases.

(baseball) A base without a runner on it.


intentional pass

intentional pass (plural intentional passes)

Jones was issued an intentional pass in order to face Smith.


full count

Since the maximum number of balls before a walk is three, and the maximum number of strikes before a strikeout is two, neither number can increase without ending the at-bat.

Full count, two outs, bottom of the ninth, the bags are jammed, 2-2 tie…

(baseball) An at-bat with a count of three balls and two strikes.


free pass

Smith was issued a free pass after Jones' double.


double up

en-verb

double up (third-person singular simple present doubles up, present participle doubling up, simple past and past participle doubled up)

doubles up (present singular third-person)
doubling up (participle present)
doubled up (participle past)
doubled up (past)

Jones snared the liner and then stepped on the bag to double up the runner.

(baseball, transitive) To get the second out in a double play, typically referring to getting an out by beating a runner back to a base (often by throwing) after a fly ball has been caught


big fly

The first baseman hit a big fly to left.


fair ball

It's a... fair ball; it rolls into the corner; Jones is stretching for two; the throw — safe!

(baseball, softball) A ball which has been hit between the first base and third base lines


foul ball

It's a foul ball, up four rows of seats.

(baseball) A batted ball that lands in foul territory.


four-seamer

The pitcher had a blazing four-seamer.


heavy sink

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His two-seamer has some heavy sink.

(baseball) The motion of a sharply diving sinker pitch.


third base

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The runner reached third base with a stand-up triple.

(baseball) The base after second base in a counter-clockwise path around a baseball infield.


first base

en-noun

first base (countable and uncountable, plural first bases)

The runner took his lead off first base.

(singular only, baseball) The base after home plate in a counter-clockwise path around a baseball infield.


second base

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The runner slid into second base with a double.

(baseball) The base opposite home plate in a baseball infield.


intentional walk

intentional walk (plural intentional walks)

Jones was given an intentional walk in order to face Smith.

(baseball) The intentional pitching of four balls (bad pitches), or of a fourth ball, in order to give the batter a walk (for example, so as to avoid the risk of a home run).


intentional walk

en-verb

intentional walk (third-person singular simple present intentional walks, present participle intentional walking, simple past and past participle intentional walked)

intentional walks (present singular third-person)
intentional walking (participle present)
intentional walked (participle past)
intentional walked (past)

(baseball, nonstandard) To intentionally walk; to give a batter an intentional walk.


pitch count

His pitch count is up to 110; he will probably be pinch-hit for next inning.

(baseball) The number of throws that a pitcher has delivered in a game.


webbing

en-noun

webbing (countable and uncountable, plural webbings)

He caught the ball in the webbing.

(baseball) The part of a baseball mitt between the forefinger and thumb; the web.


defensive indifference

The play was scored as defensive indifference.

(baseball) An official scoring judgement in which a runner is not credited with a stolen base because the team playing the field did not try to stop the steal. This typically occurs late in a game when the fielding team is winning by at least two runs.


extra innings

And we go to extra innings.

(baseball) Additional innings needed to break a tie.


cup of coffee

Based on the idea that the player was only there long enough to have a cup of coffee.

I was up for a cup of coffee once; those were the best six days of my career.

(ice hockey, baseball, slang) The situation where a minor league player comes up to the major league team for a short period of time.


can of corn

The phrase, first attested in 1896, refers to the practice of a grocer using a long stick to push a can of goods off a high shelf. (See Seattle Post Intelligencer - Sports Answer Guy article)

He hits a can of corn to left.

(baseball, idiomatic) An easily caught fly ball.


early innings

We have an early innings deficit to make up.

(baseball) The first, second, and third innings.