home plate

American  

noun

Baseball.

1. the base at which the batter stands and which a base runner must reach safely in order to score a run, typically a five-sided slab of whitened rubber set at ground level at the front corner of the diamond.

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home plate British  

noun

1. Also called: plate.   home.   home base.  baseball a flat often five-sided piece of hard rubber or other material that serves to define the area over which the pitcher must throw the ball for a strike and that a base runner must safely reach on his way from third base to score a run

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Etymology

Origin of home plate

An Americanism dating back to 1870–75

Example Sentences

From 1995 to 2005, the MLB rule book defined strikes as the area over home plate from the midpoint between the shoulders and the top of the pants, down to the bottom of the knees.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026

How much baseball culture revolves around the home plate ump?

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026

He policed brushback pitches with ardor and once called a night game for darkness when lighting malfunctions compromised visibility near home plate.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026

In the bottom of the ninth in Game 7, playing second base with the infield in, Rojas cleanly fielded a grounder and threw out Isiah Kiner-Falefa by inches at home plate to save the game.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 27, 2025

The next batter got a hit and tried to make it to second, but was tagged out—but not before Speedy crossed home plate!

From "The Missing Mitt (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #2)" by Franklin W. Dixon