checked swing

[ chekt swing ]

noun

, Baseball.

1. a swing of the bat in which the batter holds back just after starting to swing, thereby avoiding swinging into a strike:

   It looked like a checked swing to me, but the umpire called him out, saying he swung for the third strike.

Word History and Origins

Origin of checked swing¹

An Americanism dating back to 1925–30; originally as half-checked swing