pinch hitter
(redirected from a pinch hitter)pinch hitter
1. In baseball, a batter who substitutes for someone else. Their pinch hitter ended up hitting a grand slam and winning the game for them!
2. By extension, anyone who acts as a substitute, especially at the last minute or in an emergency. Because the attorney assigned to the case is so close to having her baby, they asked me to be a pinch hitter in case she gives birth before the trial is over.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
pinch hitter
A substitute for another person, especially in an emergency. For example, Pat expected her mother to help with the baby, but just in case, she lined up her mother-in-law as pinch hitter . This expression comes from baseball, where it is used for a player substituting for another at bat at a critical point or in a tight situation (called a pinch since the late 1400s). [Late 1800s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
pinch hitter
1. n. a substitute batter in the game of baseball. Sam is a pinch hitter for Ralph, who broke his wrist.
2. n. any substitute person. In school today we had a pinch hitter. Our teacher was sick.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.