spring training
Americannoun
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a program of physical exercise, practice, and exhibition games followed by a baseball team in the late winter and early spring, before the start of the regular season.
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the period during which such a program takes place, usually from the beginning of March until the middle of April.
Etymology
Origin of spring training
An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900
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.
This spring training, Sasaki posted a 15.58 ERA and allowed 15 walks in 8⅔ innings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
Remember how Roger Clemens used to wander back to baseball after letting the rest of those suckers suffer through spring training and the early schedule?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
He reported to spring training with the goal of winning the National League Cy Young award, in part because who knows how long you can do everything at an elite level on a baseball field?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026
One day during spring training, Preston was sitting in Thomson’s office when Dombrowski asked him to call in Don.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026
Merkle and I worked out a play during the spring training season in 1911 which caught perhaps a dozen men off first base before the other teams began to watch for the trick.
From Pitching in a Pinch or, Baseball from the Inside by Mathewson, Christy
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.