ballplayer
Americannoun
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a person who plays ball professionally, especially baseball.
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anyone who plays ball.
noun
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a player, esp in soccer, with outstanding ability to control the ball
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a baseball player, esp a professional
Etymology
Origin of ballplayer
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.
Fader wasn’t convinced that a former ballplayer could handle its rigor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
His father, the multitalented comedian and creator of “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” didn’t think his boy had much talent and pressed him to be a ballplayer or a doctor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2025
Bob was once so popular a ballplayer name that managers had to be careful not to trip over one Bob or another on their way through the clubhouse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2025
“The more I see him every day the more I realize how special of a person and a ballplayer he is.”
From Seattle Times ● May 16, 2024
And the gas station man told him, “Sure, but first I gotta ask you something. You’re a new ballplayer, right? Just cornin’ on board?”
From "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli
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.
