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home run

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noun

Baseball. a hit that enables a batter, without the aid of a fielding error, to score a run by making a nonstop circuit of the bases.
a complete or unqualified success: trying to hit a home run at the box office.

Origin of home run

An Americanism dating back to 1855–60
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for home run

center, target, butt, omphalos, quintain, classic, coup, masterpiece, masterwork, showpiece

Examples from the Web for home run

Contemporary Examples of home run

  • “Until 1998 or 1999, 10 times was considered a home-run investment,” Breyer said back then.

    The Daily Beast logo

  • Only when steroid-tainted Barry Bonds grabbed the title of home-run king in 2007 did some fans begin to appreciate Aaron.

    The Daily Beast logo
    Great Summer Nonfiction

    Janice Kaplan

    June 29, 2010

Historical Examples of home run

  • Throwing a ring over one of the "home-run" pegs means a score, of course.

  • It's a home-run every time when you get your deductive theories unlimbered.

    The Man Upstairs

    P. G. Wodehouse

  • Besides, I may make a home-run with my writing one of these days.

    The Man Upstairs

    P. G. Wodehouse

  • He grabbed the camera, gave a yell of triumph, and faced for the home-run.

  • When you are hiding, you can take a good breath for the home-run you have to make.

    The Child's Day

    Woods Hutchinson

British Dictionary definitions for home run

home run

noun

baseball a hit that enables the batter to run round all four bases, usually by hitting the ball out of the playing area
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 home run
n.

1856, from home + run (n.).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with home run

home run

A highly successful achievement; also, doubling one's profits. For example, We scored a home run with that drug stock, buying it at 15 and selling at 30. This expression originated in the mid-1800s in baseball, where it refers to a pitched ball batted so far that the batter can round all three bases and reach home plate, scoring a run. Its figurative use dates from the mid-1900s.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.