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.
He runs one of baseball’s lowest walk rates, turning an elite batting average into a merely very good on-base percentage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Two years later Robinson was named the most valuable player after leading the National League in batting average and stolen bases.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
His batting average: .266 before Smith’s injury, .233 since then.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026
Over the last six seasons, he hit a total of 13 home runs, and his batting average never exceeded .240.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026
The result would be a higher overall batting average for Gehrig than for Ruth: .357 vs.
From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos
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.
