batting average

noun

1. Baseball. a measure of the batting ability of a player, obtained by dividing the number of base hits by the number of official times at bat and carrying out the result to three decimal places. A player with 100 base hits in 300 times at bat has a batting average of 0.333.
2. Informal. a degree of achievement or accomplishment in any activity.

Word History and Origins

Origin of batting average¹

An Americanism dating back to 1865–70

Example Sentences

The following year, he set career highs in almost every batting category and ranked third in batting average.

From Ozy

That is roughly what my batting average would have been, or yours.

From Washington Post

Their batting average is the number of hits they got divided by four times the number of games they played.

From FiveThirtyEight

The irony in all of this was that it was not mathematically impressive that a baseball player of Trout’s skill was able to produce a batting average that matched the number of games played.

From FiveThirtyEight

The way the question was worded — asking for the greatest number of games rather than the greatest possible batting average — technically allowed for answers greater than 1,000.

From FiveThirtyEight

“Some people worry about our batting average,” he told the crowd of activists.

From The Daily Beast

He dominated hitters, posting the top numbers in ERA, strikeout-to-walk, and the batting average of opposing hitters.

From The Daily Beast

His career batting average is .313 with 3,304 hits, five Golden Gloves, and an equal number of World Series rings.

From The Daily Beast

The next best batting average belongs to Republican Bill Frist and Democrat Mike Mansfield at 63 percent.

From The Daily Beast

“Last year the team had a general batting average of .267,” chimed in Dick.

From Project Gutenberg

He knows when he begins a season or starts on a trip that he will make a good batting average.

From Project Gutenberg

To be a success, you need only make a good batting average in your opportunities to sell.

From Project Gutenberg

Prizes are given for cricket: one for the best batting average, and one for bowling.

From Project Gutenberg

He could tell you the batting average of every player in the big leagues for ten years back.

From Project Gutenberg