at bat

[ at bat ]

adverb

, Baseball.

1. taking one's turn to bat in a game:

   And now Sanchez is at bat with two runners in scoring position.

noun

, Baseball.

1. a player’s turn to bat, officially recorded as such unless the batter walks, is hit by a pitch, makes a sacrifice hit, or is interfered with by the catcher:

   In her debut appearance with the Rockford Peaches, she posted two hits in three at-bats.

Word History and Origins

Origin of at bat¹

First recorded in 1880–85

Idioms and Phrases

Taking one's turn. For example, At this conference, with so many interruptions, it's hard to tell which speaker is at bat , or I was nervous while waiting to testify, but once at bat I felt better . This idiom, from baseball, was already being transferred to other enterprises by the 1880s. Also see on deck .

Example Sentences

In Game 2, they chanted his name after every pitch in every one of his at-bats.

From Los Angeles Times

Having just told reliever Blake Treinen he had only one more at-bat, Roberts changed course in the moment, letting instinct and intrinsic trust in his team guide a critical October decision.

From Los Angeles Times

Judge went one for three to give him two hits in 15 at-bats in the Series.

From Los Angeles Times

Ohtani had had a quiet outing, but the slightly thinned-out crowd belted out one last chant for his final at-bat, groaning loudly when the ball glanced off his left toe, leading to a walk.

From Los Angeles Times

“I don’t remember much about what happened in the at-bats,” Ohtani said.

From Los Angeles Times