batting average
Americannoun
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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.
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Informal. a degree of achievement or accomplishment in any activity.
Etymology
Origin of batting average
An Americanism dating back to 1865–70
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Bowen came on strong, finishing with nine home runs and a .360 batting average.
From Los Angeles Times • May 3, 2026
Murakami’s all-or-nothing approach, with a .939 OPS, reflects baseball’s pursuit of power despite a .236 batting average.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 30, 2026
Pages leads the major leagues with a .370 batting average.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 21, 2026
Teams built their rosters while relying on rudimentary statistics like batting average and runs batted in for hitters and win-loss record for pitchers.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026
“What was Mickey Mantle’s best batting average for any year of his career?”
From "Okay for Now" by Gary D. Schmidt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
