pinch hitter

See also: pinch-hitter

English

Etymology

From pinch hit +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

pinch hitter (plural pinch hitters)

1. (baseball) A substitute batter; one who pinch-hits.
   • 2023 May 26, Cody Stavenhagen, “A.J. Hinch is managing with confidence as the Tigers hang tight in the AL Central”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     This year the Tigers are using pinch hitters 72 percent more often than the league average. They entered Thursday leading the league with 59 pinch-hit plate appearances. Tigers pinch hitters were batting .231, above the league average for pinch hitters of .217.

2. (cricket) An aggressive batsman brought on to score runs quickly, even at the risk of losing his wicket.
3. (colloquial) A person who substitutes for another to perform one or more tasks.

   I’ll be sending a pinch hitter to do the presentation because I have the flu.

Related terms

• pinch hit

See also

• designated hitter