pinch-hit

See also: pinch hit

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

pinch-hit (third-person singular simple present pinch-hits, present participle pinch-hitting, simple past and past participle pinch-hit)

1. (intransitive, baseball) To bat in place of another player

   Jones pinch-hit for Smith in the sixth.

   • 1973 April 1, Wells Twombly, “Now the 10th man”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     “Some people think that pitchers aren't complete athletes and some of them maybe weren't, but others were, so I think you'd remember Red Ruffing who used to pinch‐hit all the time, sometimes for outfielders, even though he was as complete a pitcher there was. […] ” If he is wrong, however, and designated hitting does turn out to be a good thing, pinch‐hitting as now understood will become a thing of the past.

2. (intransitive, idiomatic) To do something in the place of another person who is not able to perform or is less skilled; to substitute or stand in for somebody.

   Jones pinch-hit for Smith during today's presentation.