A team

From the letter "A" (indicating the highest rank or quality) + "team".

He was then selected for the South African A team before making his international debut.

NSW all-rounder Moises Henriques has been named captain of the Australia A team to play England in Hobart next week.

(cricket, rugby) A country's reserve team or development squad, comprising the best players not selected in the national team.


frontcourt

frontcourts (plural)
front-court (alternative)

Kelly passes to Mahoney in the frontcourt.

(basketball) The half of the court where a team's offensive basket is located

The team's frontcourt has not been performing this season.

(basketball) The center and forwards of a team


laydown

en-noun

laydown (countable and uncountable, plural laydowns)

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North-South rested in five spades, with grand slams in spades and clubs laydown.

2008 December 26, Phillip Alder, “Set the Toys Aside and Listen to What the Cards Are Saying”, in The New York Times:

(bridge) A hand which is so strong that the declarer can simply expose it and claim the number of tricks required by his or her contract.


trailhead

trailheads (plural)
trail head (alternative)

The trailhead can be exposed to potential gamers through social network services, websites, emails, or sometimes non-electronic media.

2017, Sangkyun Kim, Kibong Song, Barbara Lockee, John Burton, Gamification in Learning and Education, Springer, →ISBN, page 27:

alternate reality game
alternate reality game

(gaming) The initial clue that leads to an alternate reality game.


overtrick

(bridge) A trick won by the declarer's side which exceeds the amount of the contract


spinner

From Middle English spynnere; equivalent to spin + -er.

I can ascertain that even in the present era where T20 cricket has redefined spin bowling and spinners have started bowling doosras and teesras and fire the deliveries in, you can expect Bishan Singh Bedi to stick to his original definition, and insist that, 'A spinner is one who turns the ball...'

2021, Neha Bedi, Sachin Bajaj, The Sardar of Spin:


war daddy

The phrase may have originated with Harold T. White, a coach at Mississippi's Perkinston Junior College in the 1950s.

(slang, American football, US) A player with extraordinary ability and exceptional toughness.


homestand

Two Sarasota pitchers proved easy picking for the St. Petersburg Saints at Waterfront park this afternoon and the locals walked off with the first game of their homestand, 8 to 1.

1926 June 4, “Locals Score Five Runs in One Inning, While Hewitt Holds Invaders Safe”, in Evening Independent, page 8:

(baseball) A series of games played at a team's home field


earned run average

earned run average (plural earned run averages)

We can give you passing yardage if you want to talk quarterbacks, or earned-run average if you want to talk pitchers, or goals and assists if you want to talk hockey players, but, alas, professional football linemen, especially on the offensive side of the table, are not easily statisticized.

1992 October, Steve Buckley, “Boss Hog: Jim Lachey is the best offensive lineman in football playing on the best team in football”, in Sport, volume 83, number 10, →ISSN, page 63:

(baseball) A statistic in baseball which equals the number of earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched.


run batted in

(baseball) A run that a given player has caused to be scored by a hit, walk, or sacrifice.


incompletion

incompletion (countable and uncountable, plural incompletions)

From in- + completion or incomplete + -ion

Their strong defense forced three incompletions from the other team.

(countable, American football) A forward pass which is not caught inbounds by the intended receiver.


woodpusher

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From wood + pusher, in sardonic reference to wooden chesspieces.

(chess, informal, derogatory) A bad player; an amateur.

amatööri

chess player who is not good at the game


look off

en-verb

look off (third-person singular simple present looks off, present participle looking off, simple past and past participle looked off)

looks off (present singular third-person)
looking off (participle present)
looked off (participle past)
looked off (past)

I went back to pass, tried to look off the safety, turned and fired it out to Jack. It didn't work. The safety closed on the ball and knocked it down.

2004, Danny Wuerffel with Steve Spurrier and Mike Bianchi, Danny Wuerffel's Tales from the Gator Swamp, page 24:

(transitive, idiomatic, American football) To mislead by directing one's apparent attention away from one's true object of intent.

(intransitive, American football) To look in a way different than the intended direction of play in order to confuse the opposing team.


backcourt

So the Knicks, who began the season with a depleted frontcourt, have muddled through the last six weeks with a depleted backcourt as well.

2009 January 2, Howard Beck, “Knicks Will Continue to Be Walsh’s Work in Progress in 2009”, in New York Times:

(basketball) A team's defensive half of the court; the part of the court where the other team's basket is located, or the guards playing in that area.


midmajor

midmajors (plural)
mid-major (alternative)

(American football) A college not affiliated with a conference that is one of the primary partners in the College Football Playoff

(US, basketball) A conference that is not a major conference


endplay

At this point, South should have played a spade to dummy's ace, ruffed a spade and led her club king to catch West in a trump endplay, but she became flustered and lost two more tricks to go down one.

2009 January 3, Phillip Alder, “What to Bid Next? That Depends on the Game You're Playing”, Bridge, in New York Times:

(bridge) A tactical play in which a defender is put on lead at a strategic moment, and then has to make a play that loses one or more tricks


endplay

endplay (third-person singular simple present endplays, present participle endplaying, simple past and past participle endplayed)

endplays (present singular third-person)
endplaying (participle present)
endplayed (participle past)
endplayed (past)

Then a diamond lead endplayed West.

2009 January 5, Phillip Alder, “From a Holiday Tournament, Two Points for the Price of One”, Bridge, in New York Times:


underlead

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(bridge) A lead of a low card when holding the top card or cards in a suit.


underlead

underlead (third-person singular simple present underleads, present participle underleading, simple past and past participle underled)

underleads (present singular third-person)
underleading (participle present)
underled (participle past)
underled (past)

(bridge) To lead a low card when holding the top card or cards in a suit.


overruff

overruff (third-person singular simple present overruffs, present participle overruffing, simple past and past participle overruffed)

overruffs (present singular third-person)
overruffing (participle present)
overruffed (participle past)
overruffed (past)

(bridge) To ruff with a higher trump following a prior ruff on the same trick.


overruff

Declarer eventually lost one heart, two diamonds and the club overruff for plus 110 to win the board and leapfrog his team from third to second.

2009 January 3, Phillip Alder, “What to Bid Next? That Depends on the Game You’re Playing”, Bridge, in New York Times:


kickoff returner

en-noun

kickoff returner (plural kickoff returners)

(American football) A player on the receiving side whose primary job is to catch the football during a kickoff and carry the ball.


punt returner

(American football) A player on the receiving team whose primary job is to catch the football during a punt and carry the ball.


leg-breaker

leg-breakers (plural)
leg breaker (alternative)
legbreaker (alternative)

Arca performed a similar stunt with a high over-the-top-of-the-ball tackle on Andy Johnson, except he connected. It is what is called a leg-breaker.

2008 December 22, “Mailbox”, in football365.com, retrieved 2009-01-05:

(soccer) A tackle or other on-field maneuver capable of breaking a player's leg.

(soccer) a tackle or other maneuver capable of breaking a player's leg

wejście skutkujące złamaniem nogi rywala

próba odbioru piłki skutkująca złamaniem nogi rywala

Armstrong is a leg-breaker, with eight fielders on the on-side. Probably he would do better if he bowled more at the wicket.

(cricket) A cricketer who bowls leg breaks.

Noble joined Wood, and the pair changed the aspect of affairs, 45 being up before a leg breaker from McGiverin proved too good for Noble's defense.

1894 September 18, “Canadian Cricketers Lead”, in New York Times, retrieved 2009-01-05, page 3:


centre forward

(British spelling, soccer) The most central of the strikers; traditionally the player who makes the kick-off.


friendly match

friendly match (plural friendly matches)

(soccer) A game that has no competitive value; an exhibition match


trequartista

The trequartista is the pivotal role in attack, though it is neither a striker nor a creator, per se, but three-quarters of both those positions.

2013 April 16, Rob Hughes, “After 2 Decades of Creativity: Why Stop Now?”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 2022-11-06:

However, the classic Italian trequartista role, which generally refers to a number 10 playing behind two strikers, was under threat. Arrigo Sacchi's emphasis on a heavy pressing 4-4-2 left no place for a languid trequartista, and therefore players like Baggio were having to prove their worth.

2019, Michael W. Cox, Zonal Marking: The Making of Modern European Football, PublicAffairs, →ISBN:

A tall, skilful trequartista with impeccable technique, he has an eye for the goal, being especially dangerous in the air.

2022 September 28, Marcus Christenson, Steven Bloor, Garry Blight, “Next Generation 2022: 60 of the best young talents in world football”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 2023-01-23:

(soccer) A player who operates between the midfielders and the strikers, acting as a playmaker and creating chances for their team to score.


doubleton

If she had had the doubleton ace of diamonds and a low club, she would have made a four-club splinter bid, showing four-card spade support, the values for game and a singleton or void in clubs.

2009 January 8, Phillip Alder, “Part 1 of an Experiment, Ending in a Trump Coup”, Bridge, in New York Times:

(bridge) A pair of cards of the same suit, which are the only cards of that suit in a player's hand


crossruff

When West discarded a club, South could have won with dummy's ace and played on crossruff lines.

(bridge) A play in which tricks are taken by taking alternate ruffs in each hand


crossruff

en-verb

crossruff (third-person singular simple present crossruffs, present participle crossruffing, simple past and past participle crossruffed)

crossruffs (present singular third-person)
crossruffing (participle present)
crossruffed (participle past)
crossruffed (past)

(bridge) To execute a play of this kind.


NBAer

(basketball) Someone who plays in the NBA.


NFLer

(American football) Someone who plays in the NFL.


CFLer

(Canadian football) Someone who plays in the CFL (Canadian Football League).


MLBer

(baseball) Someone who plays in MLB (Major League Baseball).


NPF

National Pro Fastpitch
w:National Pro Fastpitch

(softball) Initialism of The National Pro Fastpitch, the senior softball league in the US.


NLL

National Lacrosse League
w:National Lacrosse League

(lacrosse) Initialism of National Lacrosse League, a lacrosse league in the US.


WNBAer

(basketball) Someone who plays in the WNBA.


fastpitch

(softball) A variety of softball in which the ball may be pitched at faster speed.


repost

repost (third-person singular simple present reposts, present participle reposting, simple past and past participle reposted)

reposts (present singular third-person)
reposting (participle present)
reposted (participle past)
reposted (past)

He's starting to learn that when the trap comes to kick it out right away and repost.

2007 January 1, Howard Beck, “Knicks Have a Hard Time Dealing With Rejection”, in New York Times:

(basketball) To post up again; to reset oneself at the post.


buttonhook

Yet the Bears never set up the deep patterns with a turn-in or a buttonhook[…]

1988 January 15, Ted Cox, “The Sports Section”, in Chicago Reader:

(American football) A play in which the receiver runs straight downfield, then turns back toward the line of scrimmage.


buttonhook

buttonhook (third-person singular simple present buttonhooks, present participle buttonhooking, simple past and past participle buttonhooked)

buttonhooks (present singular third-person)
buttonhooking (participle present)
buttonhooked (participle past)
buttonhooked (past)

(American football) To perform the buttonhook play.


semiforce

semiforce (third-person singular simple present semiforces, present participle semiforcing, simple past and past participle semiforced)

semiforces (present singular third-person)
semiforcing (participle present)
semiforced (participle past)
semiforced (past)
semi-force (alternative)

After North opened one spade, South responded one no-trump, semiforcing.

2009 January 15, Phillip Alder, “Scrutinizing the Dummy to Develop the Defense”, Bridge, in New York Times:

(bridge) To force a partner's hand conditionally


slowpitch

slo-pitch (alternative)
slow-pitch (alternative)

(softball) A variety of softball, in which the ball may not be pitched fast.


upcourt

The Wizards took the lead for good when Nick Young blocked Duhon’s layup attempt, then raced upcourt for a 21-foot pull-up jumper.

2009 January 17, Howard Beck, “Up-and-Down Knicks Get More of the Latter in Loss to Wizards”, in New York Times:

(basketball) Toward a team's offensive basket, the basket at which points are scored


bat in

bat in (third-person singular simple present bats in, present participle batting in, simple past and past participle batted in)

bats in (present singular third-person)
batting in (participle present)
batted in (participle past)
batted in (past)

a. 2001, William Harrington, Elliott Roosevelt's Murder at the President's Door: An Eleanor Roosevelt Mystery, 2003 edition, →ISBN, page 55,
In 1927, when Ruth hit sixty home runs, Gehrig had a better batting average and batted in more runs.

(baseball, transitive) To bat so that a runner on base effects (a run).


ball return

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(snooker, pool) A ramp inside the table, down which balls roll so they can be accessed.


foul line

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(basketball) A line from which a player takes a free throw

(baseball, softball) One of the two lines on the edge of a field marking the area inside which a fair ball may be hit.


midtable

Inter Milan[…] allowed midtable Atalanta of Bergamo three goals in the first 33 minutes Sunday and lost only its second league match of the season, 3-1.

2009 January 21, Jack Bell, “Juventus Putting Pressure on Inter”, in New York Times:

(soccer) Of medium rank in the standings, not a top or bottom team.


farmable

en-adj

farmable (comparative more farmable, superlative most farmable)

more farmable (comparative)
most farmable (superlative)

This week's raid battle is especially farmable.

(video games, chiefly online gaming) Capable of being farmed (used to produce an item or money in large quantities by grinding).


paceman

The flair for bright batting went against them as they fell easy prey to the Aussie pacemen.

1976, The Statesman, volume 22, page 47:

In the series he bowled 222.5 overs, a considerable number considering Test teams in 1948 could call upon a new ball every 55 overs and Australia had pacemen to burn in Lindwall, Miller, Johnston and Toshack.

2001, Ashley Mallett, Eleven: The Greatest Eleven of the 20th Century, page 100:

Instead he went trout fishing on the Kiewa River in country Victoria, but not before leaving instructions to his pacemen to attack Bradman at every opportunity. Larwood took this to mean plenty of short stuff at the rib cage and head with five men in close catching positions.

2006, Roland Perry, The Ashes: A Celebration, page 136:

VICTORIA captain Cameron White and paceman Ben Hilfenhaus will return to the Australian team for the one-day international against South Africa tomorrow.

2009 January 25, “Cameron White and Ben Hilfenhaus return for Australia”, in Herald Sun:

2008 February 4, Anil Kumble, ‘You need to keep talking’, Outlook, page 45,
Fourteen Australian wickets fell to our pacemen, indicating that they were sticking to the plan.

2009 October, Pratiyogita Darpan, page 763,
South African paceman Andre Nel on March 25, 2009 announced his retirement from international cricket after an eight year career during which he took more than 100 wickets in both forms of the game.

(cricket, Australia, India) A fast bowler; one who specialises in bowling fast.


hardman

FORMER Melbourne Storm hardman Michael Crocker will consider retirement if he is denied a work permit by the British government.

2009 January 25, Peter Badel, “Crocker: I'll quit if I can't go”, in Herald Sun:


special team

(American football) A group of football players with special assignments for plays other than standard offensive and defensive plays, such as those involving kicking.


backrower

Test backrower Crocker, 28, had hinted that he would consider retiring if the three-year English deal fell through.

2009 January 30, AAP, “Crocker's English visa rejected”, in Herald Sun:

(sports, cricket) A reserve player on a team; a member of the back row or back bench


Saints

Still, Saints looked the likeliest to make the breakthrough, and it came when Jonny Evans could only half-clear a long ball and Chaplow took full advantage.

2011 January 29, Ian Hughes, “Southampton 1 - 2 Man Utd”, in BBC:

(soccer) A nickname of Southampton Football Club, a football club from Southampton, England.


hitless

Jones is hitless in the last four games.

(baseball, of a batter) Having failed to make any base hits over a period of time, usually one game.

The team is hitless since the third inning.

(baseball, of a team) Having no hits over a period of time, usually part of one game.


base hit

(baseball) A successful hit in which the batter safely reaches base


halfcourt

The second technical was called after Mayo walked back toward the players gathered at halfcourt.

2007 January 30, Pete Thamel, “A Star Player, a Video and a Suspension”, in New York Times:

(basketball) The middle of the court, at and near the center line

Count 'em, 150 basketball courts, actually halfcourts, will line Columbus Drive July 27-28 for the Bulls' second annual Shoot-the-Bull Three-on-Three Roundball Classic.

1990 July 4, Linda Young, “3-on-3 offers hot aftertaste”, in Chicago Tribune, archived from the original on 2013-12-02, page 3:

(basketball) A basketball court that is half the size of a normal court

There was lots of weird stuff going on with zones and matchups and presses and fastbreaks and ball-deflating halfcourts, but UConn won with defense.

1999 January 24, Michael Arace, “NO. 1 UCONN 62, SETON HALL 47”, in Hartford Courant, archived from the original on 2013-06-30, page E3:

(basketball) A shot taken from the middle of the court


outpitch

en-verb

outpitch (third-person singular simple present outpitches, present participle outpitching, simple past and past participle outpitched)

outpitches (present singular third-person)
outpitching (participle present)
outpitched (participle past)
outpitched (past)

He beat the Yankees, 4-2, at Yankee Stadium in Game 2, outpitched Whitey Ford in a 1-0 victory in Game 5 in Milwaukee, and then, pitching on two days’ rest because Spahn had the flu, threw a 5-0 shutout at Yankee Stadium in Game 7.

2007 February 7, Richard Goldstein, “Lew Burdette, Masterful Pitcher, Dies at 80”, in New York Times:

(baseball) To pitch better than an opposing pitcher.


basepath

Jackson broke up a potential double play in the 1978 World Series when he froze on the basepaths and turned his hip into a throw.

2007 June 2, Tyler Kepner, “Reconsidering, Torre Admonishes Rodriguez”, in New York Times:

(baseball) The grassless ways around the baseball diamond on which runners advance.

(pesäpallo) The path between two adjacent bases, such as between the first and the second base.


homecourt

homecourts (plural)
home court (alternative)
home-court (alternative)

James made an epic block of a Chris Bosh dunk attempt to rouse a sleepy house and Cleveland went on to seal a victory that improved its homecourt record to a franchise record 23-0.

2009 February 4, Dave Feschuk, “Raptors mere jesters in King James' court”, in Toronto Star:

(basketball) The home court of a basketball team.


pickoff

Zobrist broke for third during Pettitte’s pickoff move, stealing the base when Pettitte threw behind the runner.

2007 April 6, Tyler Kepner, “Pettitte’s Return Lost Amid Sloppy Play”, in New York Times:

(baseball) A play in which a pitcher throws a live ball to a fielder so that the fielder can tag out a baserunner who has moved away from the base


downcourt

Ever since Barnes played with Davis at U.C.L.A., he has been able to throw baseball passes halfway downcourt.

2007 May 13, Lee Jenkins, “Nellie Ball Energizes Warriors and Confounds Opponents”, in New York Times:

(basketball) Toward one's team's offensive basket


flyout

Sosa got Clark to chase a changeup, then retired Stephen Drew on a flyout to the right-field fence.

2007 May 6, Ben Shpigel, “Mets’ Gamble on Sosa Pays Off for One Night”, in New York Times:


homerless

(baseball) Without having scored a homer (home run).


ballclub

ballclubs (plural)
ball club (alternative)
ball-club (alternative)

“I got hurt trying to help the ballclub win ballgames.”

2007 July 4, Todd Jones, “The Links Between Bonds and Griffey End When the Fans React”, in New York Times:


multihomer

BREWERS 3, PHILLIES 2 Ben Sheets (4-2) struck out eight in seven and two-thirds innings, and Gabe Gross hit two bases-empty home runs for the first multihomer game of his career to help visiting Milwaukee end a four-game losing streak.

2007 May 18, The Associated Press, “Red Sox Save Their Bullpen as Tavárez Beats the Tigers”, in New York Times:

(baseball) Having more than one home run in a single game.


pitchout

The only thing that had kept the bases from being loaded was that Zimmer (or someone, but let's give him the credit because it was a tough weekend for him) caught the Dodgers stealing with a pitchout on a hit-and-run.

1988 July 22, Ted Cox, “The Sports Section”, in Chicago Reader:

(baseball) A pitch that is intentionally thrown high and outside of the strike zone in order to prevent a stolen base


ball up

ball up (third-person singular simple present balls up, present participle balling up, simple past and past participle balled up)

balls up (present singular third-person)
balling up (participle present)
balled up (participle past)
balled up (past)

(basketball, intransitive) To play basketball, especially playing well.


sinkerballer

With Putz and closer Francisco Rodríguez aboard, that pitcher — the bridge to the bridge, if you will — assumes extra responsibility, and the Mets are optimistic that Green, a 6-foot-6 sinkerballer, will fill that role.

2009 February 17, Ben Shpigel, “Acquired in J. J. Putz Trade, Sean Green Also Seen as Valuable to Mets”, in New York Times:

(baseball) A pitcher who throws a lot of sinkers (sinking fastballs).


popout

And Ambiorix Burgos loaded the bases […] before inducing a popout in foul territory to end the game.

2007 April 24, David Picker, “Maine Has Last Word in Solving Rockies”, in New York Times:

(baseball) A pop fly that is caught in flight, resulting in an out.


nonpitcher

Sheffield was the only Tigers nonpitcher who did not play in Sunday’s game.

2007 April 23, The Associated Press, “With Only Hitting to Focus on, Sheffield Has Found Himself in an Early Slump”, in New York Times:

(baseball) A player who is not a pitcher and therefore is required to bat


strongside

Bradley might push for playing time right away at the strongside linebacker spot.

2007 May 27, The Associated Press, “For a Rookie Linebacker, It’s Like Going to Work”, in New York Times:

(American football) Of or pertaining to the strongside linebacker position, which typically lines up across from the tight end


wicketless

Vettori paid the price for a wicketless outing in the final one-day international against the West Indies on Tuesday, slipping from first place to second.

2009 January 14, AAP, “Nathan Bracken returns to No.1 in ODI bowling rankings”, in Herald Sun:

(cricket) Having failed to gain a single wicket


tripleton

It means that you lead low from a doubleton and the middle card from a tripleton.

2007 August 9, Phillip Alder, “For a Young Polish Player, One Trip Yields Two Gold Medals”, in New York Times:

(bridge) Three cards of the same suit, held in a dealt hand


linebacking

“He has the ability to play all three linebacking positions and we’re happy to add him to our defense.”

2007 March 27, The Associated Press, “Eagles Boost Defense With Deal for Spikes”, in New York Times:

(American football) Playing as a linebacker


counterplay

en-noun

counterplay (countable and uncountable, plural counterplays)

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Milov might have tried 15 ... b4 to give himself some counterplay on the queenside.

2007 January 7, Dylan Loeb Mcclain, “After a Detour, Nakamura, 19, Is Back to His Winning Ways”, in New York Times:

(chess) A counterattack in a different part of the board.


horseplayer

Trailing a field of talented horseplayers that day, he made a few shrewd picks to move ahead, then held on down the stretch to earn $50,000.

2007 July 1, Vincent M. Mallozzi, “Handicapping the Handicappers”, in New York Times:

(gambling) A person who bets on horse races.


gloveman

The Aussie gloveman hit back yesterday saying the accusations were worse than any wrongdoing he was alleged to have committed.

2009 February 3, Richard Earle, “Btrad Haddin hits back at Daniel Vettori dig”, in Herald Sun, archived from the original on 2009-02-05:


fireballing

Injuries […] will likely keep fireballing prospect Phillippe Aumont from suiting up as well.

2009 January 19, “Canada's hoping to draw on pair of aces for Classic”, in Toronto Star:


comebacker

It's a comebacker past second base for a single.

The pitcher fields the comebacker and throws it to first for the out.

Hendricks was only able to throw 52 pitches, surrendering two runs in 3.2 innings before being forced out of action when Angel Pagan's comebacker hit his right forearm.

The next hitter, Jayson Werth, reached on a broken-bat infield single, and Greg Dobbs walked to load the bases, but Heilman induced a comebacker from Chris Coste to end the rally.

2007 August 29, Ben Shpigel, “Two Hits, One Short and One Far, Beat the Mets”, in New York Times:

(baseball) A batted ball that travels toward the pitcher.


utilityman

utilitymen (plural)
utility man (alternative)

Franco, a 48-year-old utilityman, signed with Atlanta on Wednesday, rejoining the Braves a week after he was cut by the Mets .

2007 July 19, The Associated Press, “Franco Is Back With the Braves”, in New York Times:

(baseball) A player who can play in several different positions


nonforcing

Zia settled for a quiet, nonforcing (because he was a passed hand) two-diamond response.

2007 April 9, “Same Fistful of Diamonds, Two Very Different Openings”, in New York Times:


corpse camp

en-verb

corpse camp (third-person singular simple present corpse camps, present participle corpse camping, simple past and past participle corpse camped)

corpse camps (present singular third-person)
corpse camping (participle present)
corpse camped (participle past)
corpse camped (past)

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You're only corpse camping if your^([sic]) standing there waiting to attack again when they come for what's left of their gear.

1999 July 21, "malvolin", “Re: The Cry Babies of PvP Server”, in alt.games.everquest (Usenet):

The whole reason to "corpse camp" is to wait until the dead character comes back and loots his corpse, so you can kill him again and get another item off his body, right?

2000 March 1, "D. J. McCarthy", “Re: GM Negligence on Karana!”, in alt.games.everquest (Usenet):

When you die in battle, you are reborn as a "ghost" in a graveyard and must return to your dead corpse to resurrect. Many players, after successfully killing your character, actually *wait by your corpse* so that when you resurrect (wounded), they can easily kill you again, and again, and again. This is called "corpse camping".

2006 April 6, "mikeh106@hotmail.com", “Re: Gaming.”, in alt.support.autism (Usenet):

(online gaming) To wait by a player's corpse to target them when they respawn, or when, after respawning elsewhere, they return to reclaim their equipment back from their corpse.


Royal

A habitational surname, shaped by folk etymology, from places in England, Riehale, Righale, Ryhill and Ryall, Old English ryge (“rye”) + hyll (“hill”), and Royle, rā (“roe”) + hyll (“hill”).

(soccer) someone connected with Reading Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


major suit

(bridge) Either of the suits of spades (♠) and hearts (♥), which rank higher than the minor suits (diamonds and clubs).


minor suit

(bridge) Either of the suits of diamonds (♦) and clubs (♣), which rank lower than the major suits (spades and hearts).


outrush

outrush (third-person singular simple present outrushes, present participle outrushing, simple past and past participle outrushed)

outrushes (present singular third-person)
outrushing (participle present)
outrushed (participle past)
outrushed (past)

[…] the Colts outrushed the Patriots, 93-8, in the second half.

2007 November 2, Judy Battista, “Blame the Colts for the New-Look Patriots”, in New York Times:

(American football, transitive) To rush more than the other team.


capot

From French capot. Doublet of kaput and capote.

There are three chances in this game, viz., the repique, pique, and capot[…]The Capot is , when either of the Players make every Trick , for which he is to count forty ; instead of which he counts but ten , when he only gets the Majority of the Tricks, which is called , the Cards

1744, Edmond Hoyle, A Short Treatise on the Game of Piquet:

A curious score was made in a game of piquet with one of the ladies. [...] In the fifth hand she made a piquet and capot, scoring 121 to 0, and in the sixth hand, being the minor, she made a repiquet, taking all but the last trick, counting 111 to 3, totalling 270, and rubiconing her opponent at 99, with a win of 469 points.

1902 November, Walter Del Mar, “London to Colombo”, in Around the World through Japan, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, pages 3–4:

(card games) A winning of all the tricks in the game of piquet, counting for forty points.


clogger

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The sport has always been tough, of course; but [Fifa] became concerned that the pre-eminent teams were those that employed particularly physical players, whose specialty was intimidation. This had commercial implications, though they were never spelled out: if the finesse players were succumbing to the “cloggers” as they were known (“clog” meaning to impede or hamper), then the shape of the sport would change fundamentally, skill being replaced by a more robust style of play in which only the strong would survive.

2010, Ellis Cashmore, Making Sense of Sports, page 314:

[…] I was normally not able to – unless I fouled him – and I usually did. I think from that time Archie reckoned I was a bit of a clogger and I didn't have Dad's or Archie's skills.

2017, Roger Hannah, The School of Hard Knox: The Autobiography of Archie Knox:

(soccer, slang) A physically aggressive player.


falsecard

(bridge) A card played in order to deceive an opponent as to one's true holding


falsecard

falsecard (third-person singular simple present falsecards, present participle falsecarding, simple past and past participle falsecarded)

falsecards (present singular third-person)
falsecarding (participle present)
falsecarded (participle past)
falsecarded (past)

East returned the diamond eight, the higher of his two remaining cards, on which declarer falsecarded with his ten.

2008 March 31, Phillip Alder, “In Amsterdam, Overtime on the Way to a Title”, in New York Times:


baserunning

Zimmer's comment on Martinez's baserunning was that he was "timid" and wouldn't run on the green light.

1988 July 22, Ted Cox, “The Sports Section”, in Chicago Reader:

(baseball) The act of running bases, or a player's skill in doing so


beanball

From bean + ball, from the slang bean (“head”).

(baseball) A pitch deliberately thrown at the head of the batter.


foul territory

en-noun

foul territory (usually uncountable, plural foul territories)

(baseball) The area outside the playing field beyond the first base and third base lines, including the grandstand.


batter's box

batter's box (plural batters' boxes or batter's boxes)

batters' boxes (plural)
batter's boxes (plural)
batters box (alternative)
batters' box (alternative)
batter box (alternative)

(baseball) One of two areas beside home plate in which a batter is required to stand during an at bat.


at bat

catcher interference
catcher interference

(baseball) A final resolution to a batter's turn at the plate which does not result in a walk, a hit by pitch, a sacrifice hit or sacrifice fly, or catcher interference


extra base hit

(baseball) A double, triple, or home run.


force play

(baseball) A play in which a baserunner on first base is required to advance to second base because the batter has become a runner, or a runner on second or third base is required to advance because a runner on a preceding base is so forced.


infield fly

(baseball) A batted ball which is in play and subject to the infield fly rule.


infield fly rule

infield fly rule (plural infield fly rules)

(baseball) A rule providing that a fair fly ball hit with a force play at third base, which is deemed catchable by an umpire, be ruled an out irrespective of the fielder's play, eliminating the force play at all bases.


fielder's choice

fielder's choice (countable and uncountable, plural fielders' choices or fielder's choices)

fielders' choices (plural)
fielder's choices (plural)

(baseball) A play in which a fielder puts out a baserunner, instead putting out the hitter at first base.


catcher's interference

(baseball) A form of interference in which a catcher intentionally or inadvertently physically hinders a batter from the opportunity to legally swing at a pitched ball, and for which the catcher is charged an error.


hit batsman

(baseball) A batter who is hit by a pitched ball, and is awarded first base as a result.


hit-by-pitch

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(baseball) An official scoring play in which a batter is hit by a pitched ball, and is awarded first base as a result, and where the batter is referred to as a hit batsman.


game score

(baseball) A metric used to evaluate the value of a pitcher's performance in one game. In a nine-inning game, an average score is 50, and the maximum achievable score is 114.


inside-the-parker

(baseball, informal) A home run in which the ball does not leave the field of play; an inside-the-park home run.


Grapefruit League

Compound of grapefruit + league; grapefruit trees are cultivated in Florida. Compare Cactus League.

(baseball) The set of Major League Baseball teams that play spring training games in Florida.


Cactus League

Compound of cactus + league. Compare Grapefruit League.

(baseball) The set of Major League Baseball teams which play spring training games in Arizona.


spring training

Spring training for the Cactus League begins tomorrow.

The spring training schedule has been released.

(baseball) A set of practice and exhibition games for each Major League Baseball team, preceding the start of the regular season, which are used by a manager to determine the roster for the regular season.


three up, three down

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(baseball) The recording of three outs in an inning without allowing a batter to reach first base.


Texas leaguer

(baseball) A weakly hit fly ball that drops between the infielders and outfielders for a hit; a blooper, a flare.


three true outcomes

Me three. I never have quite understood all the "three true outcomes" fetish around here. I mean, I know that building an offense around walks and 3-run jacks embodies the Sabermetric Virtues, and especially in today's conditions that's the way to win, but man, it sure leads to some slow, boring games.

2002 April 18, Perry, “Re: To all you Oakland A's fans...”, in rec.sport.baseball (Usenet):

(baseball) The three results of a plate appearance that do not involve the fielders: home runs, walks, and strikeouts.


plate appearance

plate appearance (plural plate appearances)

catcher's interference
catcher's interference

(baseball) A batter's completed turn in the batter's box. It usually results in an at-bat or walk, but may also result in a hit-by-pitch, sacrifice fly, sacrifice hit, or catcher's interference. If the third out of an inning is recorded prior to completion of the batter's turn, no plate appearance is credited to the batter, and he will lead off his team's next turn at bat.


lead off

Jones has been the team's lead off hitter for three years.

(baseball) The first batter in the batting order.

The lead off hitter for the sixth inning is Jones.

(baseball) The first batter of an inning.

(baseball) The short distance that a player stands away from their current base.


lead off

en-verb

lead off (third-person singular simple present leads off, present participle leading off, simple past and past participle led off)

leads off (present singular third-person)
leading off (participle present)
led off (participle past)
led off (past)

Jones led off the inning with a home run.

Jones is leading off an inning for the third time in the game.

(baseball) To be the first batter of an inning.


no decision

Jones had three straight no decisions, but the bullpen eventually won all three games.

(baseball) A game for which the starting pitcher does not record a win or a loss.


starting pitcher

en-noun

starting pitcher (plural starting pitchers)

That team has the best starting pitchers in the league.

(baseball) A pitcher who is usually used to start a game; a member of a team's rotation. Compare relief pitcher.

The starting pitcher for today's game has not been announced yet.

(baseball) A pitcher who is recorded to begin the game.


relief pitcher

The team's relief pitchers have not allowed a run in the past six games.

(baseball) A pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher is removed due to injury, ineffectiveness, ejection from the game or fatigue.


nubber

(baseball) A batted ball that travels slowly and not very far.


bases loaded

He's had four hits this week with the bases loaded.

(baseball) Having a baserunner on first base, second base, and third base at the same time.


no room at the inn

From the Biblical story of the birth of Jesus (Luke 2).

The pitcher is struggling to throw strikes but there's no room at the inn.

(baseball, used by play-by-play announcers) A situation in which an ineffective pitcher is pitching with the bases loaded.


station-to-station

A strategy in which a team attempts to score runs by stealing bases, bunting, sacrificing, hitting singles and adopting hit-and-run plays; inside baseball or small ball.

A strategy in which a team attempts to score runs by eschewing the stolen base and small ball, instead allowing baserunners to advance only on hits or other balls in play.


cornerman

(basketball) A player who can play both the small forward and power forward positions.


double steal

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The team is known to try the double steal because it has so many speedsters.

(baseball) A situation in which two baserunners attempt to steal a base simultaneously. This is usually called by the manager when there are runners on first base and second base.

This pair have seven double steals this season.

(baseball) The successful completion of a double steal.


infield shift

From infield and shift.
Originally called the Williams shift or Boudreau shift, respectively named for Ted Williams and Lou Boudreau, and first used during the 1946 World Series by St. Louis Cardinals manager Eddie Dyer as a defensive gimmick. In the late 1990s, the strategy was revived, using the more generic infield shift, which has been used exclusively since then.

(baseball) A defensive alignment in which the third baseman, shortstop and second baseman positionally shift to their left when a left-handed batter is in the batter's box. Used primarily when the batter is an extreme pull hitter.


DIPS

(baseball) Initialism of defense-independent pitching statistics.


defense-independent pitching statistics

defense-independent pitching statistics pl (plural only)

(baseball) A measure of a pitcher's effectiveness based only on plays that do not involve fielders. Originally included only hit-by-pitch, walks, strikeouts, and home runs allowed, but more recently incorporates fly ball percentage, ground ball percentage, and line drive percentage.


extra inning

extra innings (plural)
extra inning (alternative)

We'll have to play another extra inning in this game.

(baseball, usually in the plural) An additional inning of play required to break a tie.


throw smoke

en-verb

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

throws smoke (present singular third-person)
throwing smoke (participle present)
threw smoke (past)
thrown smoke (participle past)

He has been throwing smoke all game.

(baseball, slang, intransitive) To consistently pitch fastballs that are difficult to hit.


OPS

on-base plus slugging
on-base plus slugging#English

(baseball) Initialism of on-base plus slugging.


on-base plus slugging

(baseball) A metric used to evaluate the effectiveness of a hitter; the sum of on-base percentage and slugging percentage.


on-base percentage

en-noun

on-base percentage (plural on-base percentages)

(baseball) The frequency with which a hitter successfully reaches first base.


hitter's count

The runners will be going on the hitter's count.

(baseball) A count favourable to the batter, in which there are more balls than strikes, especially a 3-0, 3-1, or 2-0 count.


sidearmer

Like other sidearmers, O’Day found salvation out of desperation.

2009 March 19, Ben rShpigel, “Medicine’s Loss Could Be the Mets’ Gain”, in New York Times:

(baseball) One who throws with arm roughly parallel to the ground.


outslug

en-verb

outslug (third-person singular simple present outslugs, present participle outslugging, simple past and past participle outslugged)

outslugs (present singular third-person)
outslugging (participle present)
outslugged (participle past)
outslugged (past)

(transitive, baseball) To score more runs than.


nonogram

/ˈnɑːnəɡɹæm/

Coined by James Dalgety in 1990, from the puzzle inventor's name (Non Ishida) and diagram.

(games, puzzles) A puzzle in which cells of a grid must be filled or left blank, according to sets of numbers given at the side of the grid, to reveal a hidden picture.


left-handed specialist

en-noun

left-handed specialist (plural left-handed specialists)

(baseball) A left-handed relief pitcher who specializes in getting left-handed or poor right-handed switch batters out .


foot trap

(soccer) The use of the bottom of the foot to control a rolling or low bouncing ball.


yakker

Said to be from the flight path of the yawker bird.https://www.si.com/mlb/2017/05/23/curveball-clayton-kershaw-lance-mccullers

(baseball, slang) A curveball or slider.


beat out

en-verb

beat out (third-person singular simple present beats out, present participle beating out, simple past beat out, past participle beaten out or beat out)

beats out (present singular third-person)
beating out (participle present)
beat out (past)
beaten out (participle past)
beat out (participle past)

I then made another ſign that I wanted Drink. They found by my eating, that a ſmall Quantity would not ſuffice me, and being a moſt ingenious People, they flung up with great dexterity one of their largeſt Hogſheads, then rolled it towards my Hand, and beat out the top; I drank it off at a Draught, which I might well do, for it did not hold half a pint, and taſted like a ſmall Wine of Burgundy, but much more delicious.

1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author Gives Some Account of Himself and Family, His First Inducements to Travel. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part I (A Voyage to Lilliput), page 13:

(baseball, of a runner) To reach base after a bunt or groundball.


corner infield

(baseball) The portion of the infield consisting of first base and third base.


corner infielder

en-noun

corner infielder (plural corner infielders)

(baseball) A player whose fielding position is in the corner infield (first base or third base).


middle infield

(baseball) The fielders near second base: the second baseman and shortstop.

(baseball) The portion of the infield consisting of second base and home plate, including the catcher, second baseman, and shortstop.


middle infielder

middle infielder (plural middle infielders)

(baseball) A player whose fielding position is in the middle infield (the second baseman and shortstop).


pitcher's count

pitcher's count (plural pitcher's counts)

The infield defence has moved to double play depth on the pitcher's count.

(baseball) A count favourable to the pitcher, usually with two strikes; a 1-2, 0-2, or 0-1 count.


sice

sices (plural)
sise (alternative)
size (alternative)

→ Japanese: サイス (saisu)

From Middle English sice or sis, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French sis, sies. Doublet of six.

In their common game, the most fortunate throw is thought to have been three Sices[…]

1680, Thomas Godwyn, Romanae historiae anthologia recognita et aucta, page 112:

(dice games, obsolete) The number six in a game of dice.


death rattle

death rattles (plural)
death-rattle (alternative)

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(cricket, by extension) The sound of a batsman’s stumps being broken, so called because this leads to the batsman’s dismissal.


Blue Jay

He is the only Blue Jay at the All-Star game this year.

(baseball) A player for the Toronto Blue Jays.


Blue Jays

The Blue Jays lead the game going into the ninth inning.

(baseball) The team Philadelphia Blue Jays, a short-lived and disused name for the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1940s.


Orioles

The Orioles have rallied to tie the game.


place kick

(soccer, rugby) A kick in which the ball is placed, at rest, on the ground or on a small tee


long ball

Welsh nerves continued to jangle as Blake let a long ball bounce over his head and only Wayne Hennessey's swift advance from his line prevented Mirko Vucinic sneaking in.

2011 September 2, “Wales 2-1 Montenegro”, in BBC:

(soccer) A kick in which the ball is kicked over the heads of other players into an empty space, into which an attacker is moving.

In the first group game, they played long ball against Sweden, who knew the English game, and so were hardly likely to be caught off-guard by direct play.

2013 October 24, Alex Ferguson, ALEX FERGUSON: My Autobiography: The Sensational Million Copy Number One Bestseller, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

Sometimes, a team will use a long-ball strategy to move the ball. In this strategy, a defender will kick the ball in a long pass, far up the field, to the striker or other forward.

2018 July 15, Cathleen Small, Soccer, Gareth Stevens Publishing LLLP, →ISBN:

Graham Taylor, usually cast as a regressive long-ball manager, understood the error.

2022 October 27, Paul Hayward, England Football: The Biography: 1872 - 2022, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

(soccer, usually attributive) A strategy focused on sending the ball upfield directly to the striker, especially one with few other tactical innovations.

In the 1970s Seaver knew that batters could connect for a long ball at almost any time, so he had to be able to reach back and strike a hitter out if necessary.

2007, Gary Gillette, Pete Palmer, The 2007 Espn Baseball Encyclopedia, 4th edition, Sterling Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 1038:

He could run a team, tough as nails, shoot the long ball; he had great instincts and feel for the game.

2011, Chris Herren, Bill Reynolds, Basketball Junkie: A Memoir, Macmillan, →ISBN:


boat race

"Now," Herbie says, dropping his voice away down low, in case old Cap Duhaine may be around somewhere listening, "it is the third race, and the horse is a horse by the name of Never Despair. It is a boat race," Herbie says. "They are going to shoo in Never Despair. Everything else in the race is a cooler," he says.

1944, Damon Runyon, “A Story Goes With It”, in Stories à la Carte:

(gambling, slang) A fixed horse race, with a specific horse arranged to win in advance.


undertrick

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Then the Netherlands scored an additional 3 imps for one fewer undertrick in a vulnerable one no-trump.

2007 February 22, Phillip Alder, “Strong Spade Suit Helps Decide a Hard-Fought Match in Japan”, in New York Times:

(bridge) A trick that declarer does not win, causing the contract to go down.


slurve

Of the 90 pitches he threw, Igawa, who relies on a slurve, fastball and changeup, never unleashed one that traveled faster than 91 miles per hour.

2008 June 20, Rainer Sabin, “Igawa Searching for a Way Back to New York”, in New York Times:

(baseball) A pitch in which the pitcher throws a slider as if he or she were throwing a curve ball.


masyu

Japanese, from a misreading of 真珠 (shinju, “pearl”) (the game was originally called 真珠の首飾り (shinju no kubikazari, “Pearl Necklace”)).

(games, puzzles) A logic puzzle in which the player must link circles on a rectangular grid so as to form a continuous loop that passes once through every circle.


nurikabe

From Japanese ぬりかべ (nurikabe, “an invisible wall in Japanese folklore that blocks roads and delays travel on foot”).

uder

(games, puzzles) A Japanese logic puzzle with a rectangular grid of squares, some of them numbered; the solver is challenged to fill in a subset of squares (under certain constraints) such that each numbered square finally indicates the number of unfilled squares contiguous to it.


roundarm

(cricket) An obsolete style of bowling where the bowler's arm is at right angles to the body at the point of delivery.


APM

en-noun

APM (countable and uncountable, plural APMs)

He's a total roxor. He's got the highest APM over anyone. Actions per minute. This tournament is his whole life.

2016, Le Chien Kim, “Gamer”, in Miraculous:

(gaming, uncountable) Initialism of actions per minute.


crackback

Mike Pereira, the league’s director of officiating, said Wade did not commit an illegal crackback block because he was blocking upfield and not back toward the ball.

2007 January 3, The Associated Press, “Saban Needs More Time to Mull Alabama Offer”, in New York Times:

(American football) A block in which the blocker, positioned wide, blocks back towards where the ball was snapped.


capture the flag

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(games) A game normally played by children, or as part of paintball, in which two teams have a flag which is stored at the other team's base. Whichever team returns their flag to their own base first is the winner.


strongpoint

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(chess) A heavily defended square on the chessboard.


goalscoring

a perfect goalscoring opportunity

(soccer, sometimes attributive) The scoring of goals.


layback

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From lay + back (presumably from confusion between lay and lie).

Only a fine interception from Mickael Silvestre denied the marauding Czech international an early chance from Tomasz Radzinski's layback and, as United struggled to find any momentum, their hosts threatened to overwhelm them.

2000 October 25, Daniel Taylor, “Radzinski double floors United”, in the Guardian:

(soccer) A short backwards pass to a teammate in an attacking position.


sinkerballing

The Mets, a day after scoring 9 runs on 12 hits, managed four singles against Aaron Cook, the Rockies’ sinkerballing right-hander, who pitched a complete game.

2008 May 26, Ben Shpigel, “Mets Lose Again; Wilpon Is Up Next”, in New York Times:

(baseball) The pitching of sinkerballs (sinkers)


Acol

After the name of a road in London, England, where it began to evolve at a bridge club in the 1930s.

British Commonwealth
British Commonwealth

(bridge) A bidding system, commonly used in the British Commonwealth, in which bidding is kept as natural as possible.


antipositional

en-adj

antipositional (comparative more antipositional, superlative most antipositional)

more antipositional (comparative)
most antipositional (superlative)

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(chess) Not positional; not in the spirit of long-term strategic, positional play.

(bridge) Tending to undermine or harm one's position.

antiposicional

tending to undermine or harm one's position


seven out

en-verb

seven out (third-person singular simple present sevens out, present participle sevening out, simple past and past participle sevened out)

sevens out (present singular third-person)
sevening out (participle present)
sevened out (participle past)
sevened out (past)

"Why do you push it, Charlie?" he said. "At our age one short game is plenty. Do you see me playing more? One of these days you could seven out.[…]"

1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 66:

If the shooter sevens out — rolls a 7 before the point — all the pass-line bets lose.

Casino Gambling for Dummies. Kevin Blackwood, Max (FRW) Rubin. page 136

(gambling, dice games) in the game of craps, to roll a seven after having established the "point".


ghoulie

en-noun

ghoulie (countable and uncountable, plural ghoulies)

(bridge, uncountable) A form of contract bridge in which only goulash hands are played.


centreback

" Ferguson paid tribute to the way Wigan - managed by former United centreback Steve Bruce - battled after their early setback.

2009 January 15, “Wayne Rooney injures hamstring as Manchester United beat Wigan Athletic”, in Herald Sun:

(soccer) Alternative spelling of centre-back.


stroke play

Greg Chappell: the master bastman. Enthralled crowds all over the world with his glorious strokeplay.

1990, Ashes: Battles and Bellylaughs, Byron Bay: Swan Publishing, page 207:

(cricket) Batting, especially excellent batting.


quaddie

From quadrella + -ie (“diminutive suffix”).

2003 March 22, Craig Sherborne, Footy′s Man of Passion, The Herald Sun, republished in 2003, Garrie Hutchinson (editor), The Best Australian Sports Writing 2003, page 82,
He was a footballer, hard-boned, smart-mouthed, with an eye on the quaddie at Flemington.

I had the quaddie in Melbourne if Alinghi won.

2004 November 21, Josh Button, “Cup tips”, in aus.sport.rugby-league (Usenet):

2006, Mike Dillon, From The Horses Mouth: The Keith Haub Story, 2010, HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand), unnumbered page,
With only the last race to run the trio each had a $1 quaddie unit if Brent Thomson managed to get over the line in front.

For the Fourth week in a row I have had 3 live legs of the Quaddie only to be dudded by West Coast the last two!

2007 July 16, gF, “Screw Fremantle”, in aus.sport.aussie-rules (Usenet):

(Australia, gambling, horse racing, colloquial) A quadrella, a type of bet requiring the bettor to pick the winners of four nominated races at the same track; a bet requiring the selection of four winners of specified matches in a given round of a sporting competition.


front line

front lines (plural)
front-line (alternative)
frontline (alternative)

The home team eventually started to unpick the Town defence and Fabregas forced a saved from visiting goalkeeper Marton Fulop after collecting a pass from Bendtner, who played on the right side of the front line.

2011 January 25, Paul Fletcher, “Arsenal 3 - 0 Ipswich (agg 3 - 1)”, in BBC:

(soccer) attack, collectively the attackers or forwards.


Tigers

(cricket) The Bangladesh national cricket team.


long stop

long stops (plural)
long-stop (alternative)

(cricket) A fielding position, now confined to the amateur game, behind the wicket-keeper (so as to retrieve balls that the wicket-keeper misses); a fielder in this position


cleanup hitter

(baseball) the fourth batter in the batting order, usually a power hitter


power hitter

(baseball) a batter with a high slugging percentage


VORP

value over replacement player
value over replacement player#English

(baseball) Acronym of value over replacement player.


value over replacement player

(baseball) A statistical measure which evaluates the relative performance of a batter or pitcher compared to a hypothetical replacement player of average fielding skill and below average hitting or pitching.


repique

(card games) In piquet, a bonus of 60 points awarded to a player who scores 30 points during the declaration phase, prior to the opponent scoring anything.


repique

en-verb

repique (third-person singular simple present repiques, present participle repiquing, simple past and past participle repiqued)

repiques (present singular third-person)
repiquing (participle present)
repiqued (participle past)
repiqued (past)

(card games, transitive) To score a repique against.


bricole

From French bricole, from Late Latin briccola, bricola, of uncertain origin.

(billiards) A shot in which the cue ball is initially driven against the cushion.


OCB

(chess) Initialism of opposite-colored bishop.


court card

Unlike the numbered cards, these represent people of the kind that might be found at a royal court.

1999: Simon Blackburn, Think: A compelling introduction to philosophy, chapter 6: Reasoning, section 5: Plausible Reasonings, page 212 (Oxford University Press, paperback, →ISBN
There are fifty-two outcomes possible when we turn up a card, and if we do it from a freshly and fairly shuffled pack, each possibility has an equal chance. Probabilistic reasoning can then go forward: we can solve, for instance, for whether most draws of seven cards involve two court cards, or whatever.

(card games) A king, queen, or jack or knave card in a standard deck of playing cards.


touch move

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(chess) The rule, in chess, that a piece touched must be moved or captured if possible.


Fox

* (surname): From fox (“vulpine animal”)

The Foxes played with plenty of initiative in the original tie at the Walkers Stadium and they started this tie in impressively positive fashion, producing the game's first two chances: Andy King's goal-bound half-volley from Steve Howard's header down was tipped over by Joe Hart and Sol Bamba headed the resultant corner wide.

2011 January 18, Phil Dawkes, “Man City 4 - 2 Leicester”, in BBC:

(soccer) Someone connected with Leicester City Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


no side

(rugby) Called by the referee at the end of a match, as no side has the next possession of the ball.


small forward

(basketball) A forward who is the shorter of the two forward positions, and often plays behind the power forwards.

pieni laitahyökkääjä

basketball: shorter of the two forward positions


power forward

(basketball) A forward who is the taller of the two forward positions, and is often responsible for scoring near the basket, collecting rebounds and blocking shots in defense.


opening batsman

en-noun

opening batsman (plural opening batsmen)

(cricket) The first batsman of an innings.

(cricket) One of the first two batsmen of an innings.


leadoff hitter

(baseball) The first hitter in the batting order, who faces the first pitch of the game.

(baseball) The first hitter of any given inning.


janken

(games) The game of rock paper scissors.


roshambo

roshambos (plural)
rochambeau (alternative)
row-sham-bow (alternative)
roe-sham-boe (alternative)

/ˌɹoʊʃæmˈboʊ/

Unknown. The syllables ro – sham – bo are called out by players to synchronize their timing. Connections to the French surname Rochambeau are a folk etymology, perhaps derived from the vaguely similar Japanese syllables jan – ken – pon.

rock paper scissors
rock paper scissors#English


blind tiger

(shogi) A piece that can move one step in any direction except forward, used in chu shogi and larger shogi variants.


dunkfest

Another Ridgewood Y regular described seeing Dalton get into a trash-talking dunkfest on a tough playground in Miami.

2004, Timothy Harper, Doing Good: Inspirational Stories Of Everyday Americans At Home And At Work:

A WORTHY DUNKFEST: Worthy's 28 points in the game included five dunks.

2006, Jimmy Black, Scott Fowler, Jimmy Black's Tales from the Tar Heels:

Bryant joined Julius Erving, Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins and Vince Carter as judges of the dunk contest Saturday night, an event that paled in comparison with Sunday night’s dunkfest, led by Bryant, Amare Stoudemire and Vince Carter.

2007 February 19, Liz Robbins, “On Star-Studded Stage, Bryant Proves the Best”, in New York Times:

The conclusion itself turned into the kind of dunkfest for bench players usually reserved for rec league blowouts.

2007, Roland Lazenby, Mindgames: Phil Jackson's Long Strange Journey:

(slang, rare, basketball) A game involving many dunks.


sise

In the new casting of a die, when ace is on the top, sise must needs be at the bottom.

1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI):


Bogo-Indian Defence

From the name of Grandmaster Efim Bogoljubov and Indian Defence.

(chess) A chess opening, a form of Indian Defence, characterised by the moves 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+.


hypermodern

en-adj

hypermodern (comparative more hypermodern, superlative most hypermodern)

more hypermodern (comparative)
most hypermodern (superlative)

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

(chess) Of or pertaining to hypermodernism.


hypermodernism

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

(chess) A school of thought which advocates controlling the centre of the board with distant pieces rather than with pawns, thus inviting the opponent to occupy the centre with pawns which can then become objects of attack.


Statue of Liberty

(American football) A Statue of Liberty play, which involves a fake in which the quarterback assumes a pose like that of the statue.


look-in

(American football) A quick short pass to a receiver running diagonally toward the center of the field.


back four

It was a comfortable evening for the Gunners’ back four.

Despite dominating possession and territory, they were being comfortably contained by Everton's well-organised midfield and diligent back four.

2011 December 10, David Ornstein, “Arsenal 1 - 0 Everton”, in BBC Sport:

With Wales in a back four, England found joy out wide. The defensive effort impressed though, and Neco Williams courageously took a driven strike from Rashford to the head as Wales stood firm, but then, concern hit.

2022 November 29, Ian Mitchelmore, “Wales put out of World Cup misery by England as sobering tournament must signal changing of the guard”, in WalesOnline:

(soccer) The set of four defenders in a team.


strike partner

The striker crossed the ball into the area and found his strike partner Jones, who headed it into the net.

Barton played an important role in both strikes, finding the front two with raking past from just beyond the Newcastle area before feeding in Lovenkrands with a quick free-kick who in turn found his strike partner.

2011 January 5, Saj Chowdhury, “Newcastle 0 - 0 West Ham”, in BBC:


on a pair

(cricket) Describing the status of a batsman who has made a duck in the first innings, and is yet to score in the second.


league cup

single-elimination tournament
single-elimination tournament

(soccer) A single-elimination tournament for which entry is restricted only to teams in the top national league or leagues.


run for the roses

en-noun

run for the roses (plural runs for the roses)

Looking back at Ohio State's run for the roses, there might be some who will insist the Buckeyes were lucky to escape defeat at least once. . . . the Buckeyes whipped a jinx in the form of premature Rose Bowl talk.

1954, Lloyd Larson, "Ohio Comes Through Like Real Champ," Milwaukee Sentinel, 23 Nov., part 2, p. 2 (retrieved 24 Aug. 2009)

(idiomatic, American football) A college football game or series of games played with the ultimate goal of qualifying for the championship Rose Bowl game.


score string

(billiards) A wire strung with beads and hung horizontally above or near the table which is used to keep score.

àbac

device used to keep the score in billiards


slotback

(American football) A particular position in American football, often a running back who lines up near the line of scrimmage and can function as a wide receiver.

If Hufnagel's looking for a hint, he might want to get his defence to focus on slotback P.K. Sam. Even though the Argos say they want to run the ball more, passing will remain the key part of the equation.

2009 August 28, Chris Zelkovich, “Sam hopes to boost Argos' sagging attack”, in Toronto Star:

(Canadian football) A particular position in Canadian football, similar to a hybrid between wide receiver and running back.


nontrump

(chiefly attributive, card games) Any card that is not a trump.


Trixie

(gambling, slang) A combined bet consisting of three doubles and one treble.


nine-timer

(Scrabble) A word that covers two triple-word squares, so that the overall value of the letters is multiplied by nine.


triple-triple

triple-triples (plural)
triple triple (alternative)

(Scrabble) A word that covers two word counts triple squares, so that the overall value of the letters is multiplied by nine.


ballhandling

Pointer's ballhandling, passing, and shooting were astounding for such a young player.

1997 May 23, Patrick Z. McGavin, “Driving Force”, in Chicago Reader:

(basketball) Skillful handling of the basketball when dribbling, passing or receiving


The d4 can be used to generate 25% incremental probabilities, random numbers from 1 to 4, with +1 it generates a linear 2-5, etc.

1979, Gary Gygax, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide, Lake Geneva, WI: TSR Games, page 10:


(dice games) A die with ten sides, most often with sides numbered 0 to 9.


pick six

pick sixes (plural)
pick-six (alternative)

(American football, slang) An interception by the defense that is run back the other way for a touchdown.


blitz chess

What I had played was chess. Specially, I knocked out some 2,000 games of speed (or "blitz") chess in the two months leading up to the tournament. In fact, I played so much that I'm currently in the top half-percent of more than 1.3 million of blitz players at an online chess competition site.

2013 June 24, Mark Samuelian, “Speed Chess Changed My Brain”, in The Atlantic:

If there’s still no winner, the players move on two games of blitz chess. There, each player is limited to only five minutes, with three seconds added after each move. If there is no winner, they play a further two games of blitz chess.

2018 November 27, Kabir Chibber, “What will happen on the final day of the World Chess Championship”, in Quartz:

Muzychuk, 27, is the reigning women’s world champion in both rapid and blitz chess.

2017 December 28, Des Bieler, “Chess champion refuses to defend titles in Saudi Arabia to protest treatment of women”, in The Washington Post:

(chess) Chess played at a quick time control, with each side getting about five minutes to make their moves. Blitz chess is played at a variety of time controls, primarily 3+0 (three minutes per side), 3+2 (three minutes per side plus two extra seconds per move), 5+0, and 5+3.


ballhawk

(American football, basketball) A player who is particularly good at catching interceptions.

They documented Waveland Avenue's ballhawk culture, where Moe Mullins, who's recovered more than 3,500, is king, and followed him home to gape at his bounty: 1,000 major-league balls hoarded like dinosaur eggs.

2001 October 5, Deanna Isaacs, “Oddballs and True Believers/Film Center's New Marquee Player”, in Chicago Reader:

Last season, when the Giants came to town, a noted ballhawk named Wes Wagner scored tickets in the first row of the bleacher boxes in right field.

2007 July 18, Lee Jenkins, “At Wrigley, Fans Debate What to Do With a Ball”, in New York Times:

(baseball) A fielder who is particularly good at catching fly balls.


beanbrawl

(baseball, informal) A fight between teams at a baseball game, typically caused by a beanball.


special defense

special defense (plural special defenses)

(gaming) A special move used to defend against damage.

(gaming) The capacity of a character of defending against damage through special defenses.


galactico

Borrowed from Spanish galáctico. Doublet of galactic.

The danger about each of Mr Brown's weekend initiatives - his appearance as a galactico in Team Europe and his robust hostility to excessive lending - is that each may be more tactical than strategic, more appearance than reality.

2009 February 23, “Editorial: Brown in Berlin, image and reality”, in The Guardian:

Perez has promised a return of the "galactico" era at Madrid after initiating the original one from 2000-06 with the blockbuster signings of Zinedine Zidane, Beckham, Luis Figo and Brazil's Ronaldo.

2009 July 7, “Ronaldo rocks 80,000 fans at Bernabeu”, in Toronto Star:


PSG

PSG has won the Ligue 1 title seven times since QSI took control of the club in 2011.

2020 June 2, George Ramsay, “How billionaire owners changed European football”, in CNN:

The outlook for PSG is arguably as bleak as it has ever been since the state-backed Qatar Sports Investment (QSI) purchased the club in 2011.

2023 June 17, Matias Grez, “Kylian Mbappé: What next for French superstar as questions over his PSG future rumble on?”, in CNN:

A spokesperson for Qatar Sports Investment (QSI), the Qatari-government operated organization that owns PSG, confirmed to CNN that it has been “approached with regards to a basketball franchise in Paris in relation to which we have expressed an interest.”

2025 March 27, Matias Grez, “NBA and FIBA in talks with European soccer teams over new basketball league”, in CNN:

France’s interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, posted on social media on Saturday after the game: “True PSG fans are getting excited about their team’s magnificent performance. Meanwhile, barbarians have taken to the streets of Paris to commit crimes and provoke law enforcement […].”

2025 June 1, Ben Quinn, quoting Bruno Retailleau, “Two people die and hundreds arrested in France after PSG Champions League victory”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

Paris Saint-Germain Football Club
w:en:Paris Saint-Germain F.C.

(soccer) Initialism of Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, a French football club from Paris; from French PSG.


gold general

(shogi) A piece in shogi that can move one step forward, back, sideways or diagonally forward.


silver general

(shogi) A piece in shogi that can move one step in any diagonal direction or straight forward.


fireballer

From the beginning, Clemens was a fireballer, Wells more of a junkballer.

2007 June 14, Lee Jenkins, “At 44, Wells Is the Anti-Clemens”, in New York Times:

(baseball) A pitcher who throws very fast balls.


bouillotte

(card games) A rapidly-played variety of brelan or gleek (a card game resembling poker)


loosener

(cricket) A usually inaccurate delivery bowled early in a bowler's first over.


poker chip

A pen-knife, a bunch of keys, a Bland dollar, a punched dime, five pennies, a poker-chip and two cloves falling from a trousers-pocket to the floor in the dead waste and middle of the night, when a man is trying to get to bed without awaking his wife, will make more racket than a young and playful cyclone dallying with a tinware factory.

(gambling) A disk-shaped counter that is used when gambling to represent money.


two of a kind

(card games) A combination of two cards of the same rank.

(card games) A hand in which the best combination is two of a kind.


starting five

(US, basketball) The five players who are initially playing for a team at the start of a game.


squibber

Kimi Pohlman raced home on a squibber back to the circle that Florida pitcher Stacey Nelson could not handle, giving Washington the decisive run in a 3-2 victory for its first N.C.A.A. softball championship Tuesday night.

2009 June 3, The Associated Press, “Washington Takes N.C.A.A. Softball Crown”, in New York Times:

(baseball) A fly ball that becomes a base hit


Chinese snooker

Chinese snooker (plural Chinese snookers)

His white came back down the table in the orthodox fashion and rested up against the green ball in a Chinese snooker.

1991, Michael Curtin, The plastic tomato cutter:

...in snooker a 'Chinese snooker' is the action of leaving the cue-ball, not behind a coloured ball as with a normal snooker, but in front of one and almost touching it...

1998, Pamela Siew Im Ong, One man's will: a portrait of Dato' Sir Onn bin Ja'afar:

Now, happy bridging over a chinese snooker.

2003, Tjander Nathoeni, “touching ball clarification (snooker)”, in rec.sport.billiard (Usenet):

(snooker) A reverse snooker position where the cue ball is in front of, rather than behind, a ball that is not on, making the shot very difficult because the bridge is hampered and the cueing angle is unnaturally high.


clear-out

clear-outs (plural)
clearout (alternative)

(basketball) A semicircular sweep with the ball grasped firmly in both hands.

Dave Kearney was straight over the ball in a jackal, and Mul made a brilliant clear-out.

2016, Gerry Thornley, Front Up, Rise Up: The Official Story of Connacht Rugby:

Leading British rugby correspondent Brendan Gallagher, writing in The Rugby Paper on 31 December 2017, produced a withering indictment of the practice, saying: “Sort out the thuggery at clear-out time, start reffing it properly. The clear out doesn't exist in law and certainly shouldn't be used as an excuse for players who are not bound to launch themselves off their feet like an Exocet and take out-injure-maim players who are behind the ball and legally bound on. Or sometimes just trying to reach the ruck."

(rugby) The act of removing opponents from a ruck or scrum in order to secure possession of the ball.


goal area

(soccer) The area of the pitch, extending six yards from the goal, from which a goal kick is taken.

àrea de meta

soccer: area from which a goal kick is taken


Klondike

Klondike Gold Rush
Klondike River
Klondike, Yukon

From Klondike, a region in the Yukon territory of Canada that saw a gold rush, named after the Klondike River. A corruption of Hän Tr'ondëk (“hammerstone water”) or Gwich'in throndiuk (“hammer-water”).

(card games) A particular solitaire card game, requiring ordering randomly ordered cards according to rank.


buzzer flag

(soccer) A linesman's flag that is equipped with a button that causes a receiver (typically worn by the referee) to buzz, thus warning him of the flag's use.


pick out

en-verb

pick out (third-person singular simple present picks out, present participle picking out, simple past and past participle picked out)

picks out (present singular third-person)
picking out (participle present)
picked out (participle past)
picked out (past)

From pick + out. Compare Saterland Frisian uutpikke (“to pick out”), Dutch uitpikken (“to pick out”).

cog

Ameobi skipped away down the left in the 39th minute and tried to pick out Shearer with a cross but his delivery was cut out by goalkeeper Jussi J...

2006 December 26, “Bolton Wanderers vs Newcastle United”, in 4TheGame, archived from the original on 2008-04-14:

(transitive, idiomatic, soccer) To send a long pass or cross to.


Elo

Elos (plural)
elo (alternative)
ELO (alternative misspelling)

From Hungarian Élő, from élő. As a rating system, named after its creator Arpad Elo (1903–1992).

named-after

(chess, other games) Ellipsis of Elo rating.


shovelware

/ˈʃʌvəlwɛə(ɹ)/

It also had to make it clear it would not allow publishers to simply port PC titles to the Xbox and pollute the platform with "shovelware."

2002, Dean Takahashi, Opening the XBox: Inside Microsoft's Plan to Unleash an Entertainment Revolution, Prima Lifestyles:

We're a jaded bunch used to movie-licensed shovelware […]

Originally featured at E3 20011 and slated for publication by the now-defunct Crave Entertainment (mostly a publisher of Wii shovelware but also responsible for the early From Software RPG Eternal Ring and the PAL version of Vagrant[…]

2023 May 30, Robin Wilde, Homebrew Game Development and The Extra Lives of Consoles, White Owl, →ISBN:

Someone who, one year prior, the big companies could rely on to spend $49.99 on the latest My Little Pony Wii shovelware, was now buying three or four apps at one or two dollars each[…]

2012 August 13, Keith Burgun, Game Design Theory: A New Philosophy for Understanding Games, CRC Press, →ISBN, page 87:

When there's a steady plastic thud of new releases hitting your doorstep , life feels like a year-long birthday— one spent alone and cakeless in your basement, unwrapping Wii shovelware that erodes your wrist and associated joints[…]

(gaming, slang, derogatory) Video games of low quality


put through

en-verb

put through (third-person singular simple present puts through, present participle putting through, simple past and past participle put through)

puts through (present singular third-person)
putting through (participle present)
put through (participle past)
put through (past)

Friedel again had to save as he parried a Patrice Evra shot before gathering the ball after the left-back had been put through by Ryan Giggs.

2011 February 1, Mandeep Sanghera, “Man Utd 3 - 1 Aston Villa”, in BBC:

(transitive, soccer) To pass the ball to (someone) giving them a one-on-one scoring opportunity.


rack up

rack up (third-person singular simple present racks up, present participle racking up, simple past and past participle racked up)

racks up (present singular third-person)
racking up (participle present)
racked up (participle past)
racked up (past)

At the start of the game, the referee racks up the red balls.

If you rack up, I'll break.

(ambitransitive, snooker, billiards, cue sports) To arrange in a rack.

(gambling) To collect one's chips and cash out.


rib-tickler

rib-ticklers (plural)
rib tickler (alternative)
ribtickler (alternative)

(cricket, slang) A ball bowled short of a length that bounces up higher than expected and strikes the batter in the ribs.


five-tool player

en-noun

five-tool player (plural five-tool players)

five-tool players (plural)
five tool player (alternative)

Five-tool player who hits for avg., power, runs, throws, fields.

1993 March, “1993 American League Rookie Scouting Reports”, in Baseball Digest, page 57:

Griffey is the complete player, one who is known as a five-tool player.

2000, Jeff Savage, Sports Great: Ken Griffey, Jr., Enslow Publishers, →ISBN, page 11:

The original five-tool player, Ewing is widely considered the greatest ballplayer of the nineteenth century.

2010, Dan Fost, Giants Past & Present, MBI Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 70:

(baseball) A player who can hit for a high batting average, hit for power, run the bases well, throw well and field well.


Test side

(cricket) Any national cricket team that is authorized to compete in Test cricket.


Test cricket

From the idea that the long, gruelling matches are a trial of the relative strengths of the two sides.

(cricket) The highest level of international cricket, where Test sides compete against each other in five-day matches.


freezeout

(gambling, sometimes attributive) A tournament in which players are gradually eliminated and the last remaining player wins everything gambled.


between the pipes

A shutout performance calls for a brilliant display between the pipes and Bill was right on the job.

1927 March 12, “Burghs Back In Race for Eastern Hockey Title”, in Ottawa Citizen, Canada, retrieved 2009-12-26:

[T]he Finns might just have the best goaltending in the 12-team tournament.

2009, Shawn P. Roarke, "Finland's biggest strength is between the pipes," www.nhl.com (National Hockey League), 19 Feb. (retrieved 26 Dec. 2009)

(ice hockey, lacrosse, idiomatic) Between the goalposts; with respect to or playing the position of goaltender.


step over

step overs (plural)
stepover (alternative)

(soccer) A dribbling move, or feint, in football (soccer), used to fool a defensive player into thinking the offensive player, in possession of the ball, in which the foot is moved over the ball without making contact with it.


dungeoneer

(chiefly role-playing games) One who navigates through a dungeon.


Mau Mau

(games) A popular card game for two or more players, similar to crazy eights.


short-stop

en-verb

short-stop (third-person singular simple present short-stops, present participle short-stopping, simple past and past participle short-stopped)

short-stops (present singular third-person)
short-stopping (participle present)
short-stopped (participle past)
short-stopped (past)

In The Spirit of the Times, the most reliable sporting paper of the Coast, we find the following encouraging criticism on our baseball nine: " Koshland (a tower of strength to this league) short topped and ran bases as brilliantly as the best of professionals."

1886, California Occident - Volumes 11-12, page 88:

Baird, '12, has been catching, short-stopping, second-basing and left-fielding with varying good nature, but impartial ability and with commendable attention to such trifling details as hitting and base running, matters apparently beneath the notice of most of the team.

1909, The Phi Gamma Delta - Volume 32, page 742:

I have never known her to follow with any degree of avidity the fortunes of the Kansas City Monarchs, for whom Robinson short-stopped last season.

1979, Mark Harris, Short Work of it: Selected Writing, page 4:

(baseball) To play the position of shortstop.


without troubling the scorers

Watson was caught and bowled for a fairly played eighteen, and Jardine again retired to the pavilion without troubling the scorers.

The PE teacher, the putative authority on all things sporting, went out, as they say, without troubling the scorers.

1993, Tom Raabe, Sports for the Athletically Impaired:

Mark Waugh came and went without troubling the scorers, leaving Australia at a perilous 2/16 with one man on the way to hospital.

He was brought down to earth in Georgetown, however, ten days later, suffering the indignity of being run out without troubling the scorers in the victory over British Guiana.

2003, James P. Coldham, Lord Hawke: a cricketing legend:

(informal, cricket) Describing the manner of the dismissal of a batsman who is out without scoring any runs


D/L

Duckworth-Lewis method
Duckworth-Lewis method#English

(cricket) Initialism of Duckworth-Lewis method.


interception try

en-noun

interception try (plural interception tries)

Australia’s 18 turnovers were a costly case of self-harm. So, too, were the two interception tries that ultimately wrecked any chance of Michael Cheika’s side ending their recent grim sequence against the Poms.

2019 October 19, Robert Kitson, “England into World Cup semi-finals after bruising victory over Australia”, in The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media:

(rugby) A try that results from an interception.


his nob

From nob, mimicking a form of address like Your Highness.

his knob (alternative)
his nobs (alternative)
His Nobs (alternative)
his nibs (alternative)
His Nibs (alternative)

Cribbage is a most virtuous and respectable game, and yet scarcely, one would think, possessing in itself sufficient attractions to keep a young gentleman in his twentieth year tied to the board, and going through the quaint calculation night after night of "fifteen two, fifteen four, two for his nob, and one for his heels."

1860, Thomas Hughes, “Tom Brown at Oxford”, in Macmillan's magazine, volume 1:

(card games, chiefly cribbage) a jack; a knave


dummy scissors

(rugby) An attacking move by two players resembling a scissors move but where the ball carrier only dummies the pass to his team-mate.


half-break

half-breaks (plural)
half break (alternative)

(rugby) The situation where a player almost breaks the opposition defensive line but is stopped by the opposition.


signoff

signoff (countable and uncountable, plural signoffs)

signoffs (plural)
sign-off (alternative)

Jack North then tried for game with two no-trump before respecting his partner’s signoff in three diamonds.

2009 September 26, Phillip Alder, “Jack Gets Bragging Rights in Computer Battle”, in New York Times:

(bridge) A bid indicating that one's partner should pass.


basewoman

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

(baseball, softball) A female fielder positioned near a base


baseperson

The baseperson may not interfere with the runner and must stay inside the cones.

1992, California Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, CAHPERD Journal Times, volume 55, page 3, rules of Crazy Baseball

The ready position for the second baseperson is generally located slightly more than halfway to second from first and 10 to 15 feet behind the base path (see Figure 4-34 ).

1993, Michael A. Clark, Youth Baseball: A Complete Handbook:

(baseball, softball) A fielder (of any gender) positioned near a base.


base runner

(baseball) Alternative spelling of baserunner.


bat out

en-verb

bat out (third-person singular simple present bats out, present participle batting out, simple past and past participle batted out)

bats out (present singular third-person)
batting out (participle present)
batted out (participle past)
batted out (past)

(cricket) to continue batting (normally to prevent what would otherwise result in losing a match)


box kick

(rugby) A type of kick performed by the scrum-half. From the base of a ruck, maul or scrum, the scrum-half will stand sideways onto the opposition with his kicking foot further from them, and kick the ball high into the air so as to hopefully prevent the opposition charging down the kick.


bust out

bust out (third-person singular simple present busts out, present participle busting out, simple past and past participle busted out or (colloquial) bust out)

busts out (present singular third-person)
busting out (participle present)
busted out (participle past)
busted out (past)
bust out (colloquial participle past)
bust out (colloquial past)

(blackjack, intransitive) To lose by going bust.


ASM

(soccer) Initialism of Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club.


double-double-double

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

Lamar Odom had a double-double-double tonight with 22 points and 22 rebounds.

(basketball) The achievement of twenty or more of any two of points scored, assists, rebounds, blocks, or steals in a single game; most often achieved with points and rebounds.


cup-tied

(sports, chiefly soccer, of a player) ineligible to compete in a cup competition due to having previously played for a different team in the same competition in the same season.


`num`

Derived from the abbreviation lb for Latin libra (“pound”), via the medieval convention of indicating abbreviations with a bar, ℔.

PTERION#

(Scrabble) In English-language Scrabble, indicates that a word is only found in the British accepted word list and not the North American list.


Potter

From Middle English Potter, English, Dutch, and north German surname, from the noun pot.
The usage for someone from Stoke-on-Trent refers to it being the home of the pottery industry in England, where it is also known as The Potteries.

(soccer) someone connected with Stoke City Football Club (in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, UK), as a fan, player, coach etc.


fleurettes

She commenced her conversation with the King and his companion by saying, "Pray, do not suspend your fleurettes on my account; next to being in love myself, I like to see other people in love. I shall be a charming confidante.....Christina drew to the card-table, and, lolling upon it with her usual indifference, began to watch the progress of the game, which was now resumed."

1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, pages 188 and 221:

(card games) A card game from the seventeenth century.


bet up

bet up (third-person singular simple present bets up, present participle betting up, simple past and past participle bet up)

bets up (present singular third-person)
betting up (participle present)
bet up (participle past)
bet up (past)


box up

box up (third-person singular simple present boxes up, present participle boxing up, simple past and past participle boxed up)

boxes up (present singular third-person)
boxing up (participle present)
boxed up (participle past)
boxed up (past)

The book gets behind the money, the mechanic picks up the crap stick and starts boxing up the dice.

1948, Thomas Louis Stix, "Say it Ain't So, Joe.", page 243:

He made no attempt to rip the die back out again, but simply left it in the game and when the dice were boxed up it went into the bowl and was lost […]

1980, John Scarne, Scarne on Dice, page 275:

(transitive, gambling) To shuffle (dice) so that the gamblers can choose from among them.


cheatable

en-adj

cheatable (comparative more cheatable, superlative most cheatable)

more cheatable (comparative)
most cheatable (superlative)

(billiards, snooker, of a pocket) Able to be potted at either edge rather than in the middle


stand pat

en-verb

stand pat (third-person singular simple present stands pat, present participle standing pat, simple past and past participle stood pat)

stands pat (present singular third-person)
standing pat (participle present)
stood pat (participle past)
stood pat (past)

Probably originally a poker phrase, with "pat" equaling "optimal", meaning that drawing more cards is unnecessary. Later the phrase came to be employed in other spheres. "Stand pat" was actively used in U.S. political campaigns of the 1900s, quickly gaining a sense of "being reactionary, resistant to dramatic changes in policy". Moreover, a noun, standpatter, was coined to denote such politicians.

After getting a hand of 20, the player stood pat.

(intransitive, blackjack) To stop hitting; to declare one's hand as final.


Yid

Yidden (plural)
Yidn (plural)
Yids (plural)
yid (alternative)

From Yiddish ייִד (yid, “Jew”). Doublet of Jew.

(soccer, informal) A supporter or club member of Tottenham Hotspur F.C.


lammer

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

(gambling) A small plastic disk used by a croupier or dealer to track the state of a game of chance or a debt owed; also button or marker.


quadrella

2003 March 22, Craig Sherborne, Footy′s Man of Passion, The Herald Sun, republished in 2003, Garrie Hutchinson (editor), The Best Australian Sports Writing 2003, page 79,
Demetriou is an inveterate punter with a miraculous instinct for picking big quadrellas.

2009, H. G. Nelson (Greig Pickhaver), Sprays: A Collection of Verbal Touch-Ups, unnumbered page,
Imagine jagging a couple of nice trifectas or the quadrella and squaring the Christmas credit-card bill, with a little extra left for a three-week holiday at Victor Harbor. Magic!

2010, Stephen Barkoczy. Australian Tax Casebook, 10th Edition, CCH Australia, page 416,
Instead, the taxpayer relied on his own intuition, placed bets mainly on the totalisator or with on-course bookmakers and was more inclined to place “higher risk” bets such as trifectas and quadrellas.

(gambling, horse racing, Australia, New Zealand) A bet where the bettor must pick the winners of four nominated races at the same track.


five-a-side

(soccer) a variation of soccer played on a smaller pitch, and with only five players in a team.


five of a kind

(card games) five cards of the same rank, often only possible if one or more wild cards are being used.


flat back four

(soccer) collectively, a set of defenders who stay on the same level on the pitch.


TCCB

(UK, cricket, historical) Initialism of Test and County Cricket Board.


Tottenham

From Old English personal name Totta, in the genitive case Tottan + hām (“homestead”).

(soccer) Tottenham Hotspur F.C., a football club in north London.


Man United

(soccer) Manchester United Football Club


Old Trafford

(soccer) The home stadium of Manchester United Football Club.

(soccer, by extension) Manchester United Football Club itself.

(cricket) A cricket ground adjacent to the Manchester United stadium.


Stamford Bridge

(soccer) the home stadium of Chelsea Football Club

(soccer, by extension) Chelsea Football Club itself


Highbury

(historical, soccer) the former home stadium of Arsenal Football Club

(soccer, historical, by extension) Arsenal Football Club itself


scrum machine

(rugby) A padded, weighty device against which a pack of rugby football forwards can practice scrummaging and rucking. It is used by players of both rugby league and rugby union.


ask the question

ask the question (third-person singular simple present asks the question, present participle asking the question, simple past and past participle asked the question)

asks the question (present singular third-person)
asking the question (participle present)
asked the question (participle past)
asked the question (past)

(cricket, informal) To make an appeal to the umpire against the batsman.


shot to nothing

en-noun

shot to nothing (plural shots to nothing)

(snooker) An attempted pot that is intended not to leave a possible pot for the opponent if missed.


Villa Park

(soccer) the home stadium of Aston Villa Football Club.

(soccer, by extension) Aston Villa Football Club itself.


White Hart Lane

(soccer) The former home stadium of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.

(soccer, by extension) Tottenham Hotspur Football Club itself.


Molineux

Another surprise is that Newcastle have the meanest defence in all four leagues and they did their utmost to preserve the tag at Molineux.

2011 October 1, Saj Chowdhury, “Wolverhampton 1 - 2 Newcastle”, in BBC Sport:

(soccer) The home stadium of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club.

(soccer, by extension) Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club itself.


total clearance

total clearance (countable and uncountable, plural total clearances)

(snooker) The potting of all the object balls on the table.


Evertonian

/ɛvəˈtəʊnɪ.ən/

(soccer) someone connected with Everton Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Gooner

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

A corruption of gunner, derived from the Arsenal coat of arms of a cannon.

(soccer, slang) someone connected with Arsenal Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Red Devil

(soccer) someone connected with Manchester United Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Wednesdayite

The boys couldn't stand idly by while three Wednesdayites got mullered; it was not the done thing.

2012, Anthony Cronshaw, Wednesday Rucks and Rock 'n' Roll: Tales from the East Bank:

(soccer) Someone connected with Sheffield Wednesday Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Villan

(soccer) someone connected with Aston Villa Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Ewood

(soccer) Ewood Park, the home stadium of Blackburn Rovers FC


Trotter

As an English and Scottish surname for a messenger, from trot. As a German surname, from Trotte (“winepress”).

(soccer) someone connected with Bolton Wanderers Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.

(basketball, slang) A player for the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team.


Claret

(soccer) someone connected with Burnley Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Cottager

From the name of the stadium, Craven Cottage.

(UK, soccer) Someone connected with Fulham Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Black Cat

Understandably the teams were hyped for their 132nd league meeting, but Steve Bruce's Black Cats were also looking to settle a score having been humiliated 5-1 at St James' Park at the end of October.

2011 January 16, Saj Chowdhury, “Sunderland 1 - 1 Newcastle”, in BBC:

(soccer) someone connected with Sunderland Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Latic

It is 10 months since they lost to the Latics in last season's final, something that the visiting supporters were intent on reminding everyone.

2014 March 9, Jacob Steinberg, “Wigan shock Manchester City in FA Cup again to reach semi-finals”, in The Guardian:

(slang, soccer) Someone connected with Wigan Athletic Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.

(slang, soccer) Someone connected with Oldham Athletic Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Magpie

(soccer) Someone connected with Newcastle United Football Club, as a fan, player, coach, etc.

(soccer) Someone connected with Notts County Football Club, as a fan, player, coach, etc.


Toon Army

From toon, the local dialect's word for town.

(soccer) The supporters of Newcastle United Football Club, a football club in Newcastle upon Tyne.


Baggie

(soccer) someone connected with West Bromwich Albion Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Baggies

The Baggies had offered little threat until the 28th minute, but when their first chance came it was a clear one.

2012 April 22, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0-1 West Brom”, in BBC Sport:

(soccer) West Bromwich Albion Football Club


Bluebird

From bluebird, from the blue colour of the team's kit.

(soccer) Someone connected with Cardiff City Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Bluebirds

(soccer) Cardiff City Football Club, a football club in Cardiff.


Seasider

(soccer) someone connected with Blackpool Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Blade

(soccer) Someone connected with Sheffield United Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Hoop

(soccer) someone connected with Queens Park Rangers Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Tractor Boy

(soccer) Someone connected with Ipswich Town Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Hornet

(soccer) someone connected with Watford Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Sky Blue

(soccer) Someone connected with Coventry City Football Club, as a fan, player, coach, etc.

(soccer) Someone connected with Sydney FC, as a fan, player, coach, etc.