doubleheader
Americannoun
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Sports.
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two games, as of baseball, between the same teams on the same day in immediate succession.
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two games, as of basketball, between two different pairs of teams on the same day in immediate succession.
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two performances or two events occurring one after the other or within a short time of each other.
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a railroad train pulled by two locomotives.
Etymology
Origin of doubleheader
An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900; double + head + -er 1
Explanation
When two baseball games are played in a row, one right after the other, that's a doubleheader. Last week's game was called off because of rain, so today they're playing a doubleheader. You can use this term for any sporting events, but it originated with baseball. It was once common for a few baseball doubleheaders to be scheduled throughout the season, but today this generally happens only when a previous game had to be postponed. Strictly speaking, doubleheaders occur in succession, one immediately following the other, but the term is often used for any two games played in one day by a single team.
Vocabulary lists containing doubleheader
We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball
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A High Five for Glenn Burke
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Boy21
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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.
It was a heartwarming moment early in the Dodgers’ 2-1 loss to the New York Yankees in the second game of Sunday’s doubleheader.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
With a bullpen game scheduled for the evening half of a doubleheader Sunday, the Dodgers were counting on Yamamoto to pitch deep into Game 1 and let as many relievers as possible rest up.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026
Top-seeded Sierra Canyon will host Sage Hill in what will be a boys-girls doubleheader on Saturday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2026
In 1975 he bounced the Baltimore Orioles manager from both games of a doubleheader, the second time coming before the game started.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026
We’re all on the field before the start of our doubleheader against the Warriors.
From "A High Five for Glenn Burke" by Phil Bildner
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.
