home plate

American  

noun

Baseball.

home plates plural

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• home plates
  plural

Etymology

Origin of home plate

An Americanism dating back to 1870–75

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

home plate

“You don’t want this heat,” one fan yelled from behind home plate.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2026

Rojas tripped getting out of the batter’s box in the second inning, slid hard into home plate in the fifth inning, and was hit as he took a throw at second in the sixth.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 9, 2026

In the sixth inning of Tuesday’s game, Rushing tagged out Jung Hoo Lee at home plate to end the inning.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026

This year, pitchers, catchers and hitters can appeal umpires’ calls at home plate to a machine equipped with technology that can accurately track the ball’s location to within a fraction of an inch.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026

Malcolm is gamely hanging in there, though he clearly hates to stand at home plate as the ball whizzes toward him.

From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti