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hardball

[hahrd-bawl]

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noun

baseball, as distinguished from softball.

adjective

tough or ruthless: He wasn't ready for the hardball politics of Washington.

outspoken, challenging, or difficult: Reporters asked the president some hardball questions.

Idioms

play hardball, to act or work aggressively, competitively, or ruthlessly, as in business or politics.

Origin of hardball

First recorded in 1825–35; hard + ball¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for hardball

Contemporary Examples of hardball

Last week on Hardball, Kathleen Parker said he is definitely running.
The Numbers Don’t Lie: Jeb Bush Can’t Beat Hillary Clinton
Michael Tomasky
May 5, 2014
Scott Simkus bemusingly explores it all in Outsider Baseball: The Weird World of Hardball on the Fringe, 1876—1950.
Home Runs, Frozen Ropes, And Some Wild Cards In Best Baseball Books
Robert Birnbaum
April 11, 2014
In any case, the healthy sampling below confirms the narrative-friendly qualities of hardball.
Home Runs, Frozen Ropes, And Some Wild Cards In Best Baseball Books
Robert Birnbaum
April 11, 2014
Will the Democrats engage in an aggressive, hardball type strategy?
Dems Need to Channel ‘House of Cards’’ Frank Underwood
Dean Obeidallah
March 19, 2014
Transfixingly candid and gamely stepping up to the plate for a round of hardball, Lohan seemed to be answering yes.
Oprah’s Lindsay Lohan Interview Settles It: Lohan’s Comeback Is Real
Kevin Fallon
August 19, 2013

British Dictionary definitions for hardball

hardball

noun

US and Canadian baseball as distinct from softball

play hardball informal, mainly US and Canadian to act in a ruthless or uncompromising way

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for hardball

n.

1883 as the name of a game, from hard + ball (n.1). The figurative sense of "tough, uncompromising behavior" is from 1973.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper