dugout
Americannoun
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a boat made by hollowing out a log.
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Baseball. a roofed structure enclosed on three sides and with the fourth side open and facing the playing field, usually with the floor below ground level, where the players sit when not on the field.
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a rough shelter or dwelling formed by an excavation in the ground, in the face of a bank, in the side of a hill, etc., especially one used by soldiers.
noun
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a canoe made by hollowing out a log
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military a covered excavation dug to provide shelter
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slang a retired officer, former civil servant, etc, recalled to employment
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(at a sports ground) the covered bench where managers, trainers, etc sit and players wait when not on the field
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(in the Canadian prairies) a reservoir dug on a farm in which water from rain and snow is collected for use in irrigation, watering livestock, etc
Etymology
Origin of dugout
1715–25, noun use of verb phrase dug out
Explanation
In baseball, a dugout is the area reserved for one team to sit while players wait for their turn at bat. Each team has its own dugout. A dugout is typically a low structure with a roof that's open at the front so the players can see the baseball field. One team's dugout is in the foul zone between third base and home plate, and the other's is between first base and home plate. Baseball dugouts are named for the original dugouts, temporary military trenches where troops shelter during battle. A boat made from a hollowed out log is another kind of dugout.
Vocabulary lists containing dugout
Baseball: A Lexicon
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Words for the World Series
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Fast Pitch
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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.
By the end of the second season, Slot was sat alone in the dugout watching Salah and Robertson say their own goodbyes.
From BBC • May 30, 2026
What’s the story behind the Michael Jackson glove the team has been passing around the dugout and featuring on social media?
From Los Angeles Times • May 27, 2026
That’s when pitcher AJ LaSota came through with consecutive strikeouts to end the inning and charged into the dugout so pumped he almost knocked over a teammate.
From Los Angeles Times • May 23, 2026
Trumpets and tin-foil trophies, players as tense as the travelling fans, gaffers pacing the dugout in full club suits.
From BBC • May 15, 2026
Told him he had the close dugout, and me and Flaca would take the far one.
From "We Were Here" by Matt De La Peña
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.
