home run

American  

[hohm ruhn] / ˈhoʊm ˈrʌn /

noun

1. Also called homer.  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. h.r., hr, HR

2. a complete or unqualified success.

   trying to hit a home run at the box office.

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home run British  

noun

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

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home run Idioms  

1. 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.

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Etymology

Origin of home run

An Americanism first recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

Hit two home runs and strike out 10 batters in the same game?

From Los Angeles Times

Bill Plaschke’s New Year’s Day column on Los Angeles sports as a saving grace in very difficult times was a home run, touchdown and three-point shot all at one time.

From Los Angeles Times

But if your business hits a home run and has explosive growth, dollar limits on exemptions may be irrelevant and you would want to exempt 10 times your cost basis, Brady says.

From Barron's

Former Dodgers outfielder Mike Davis, a key factor in Kirk Gibson’s iconic walk-off World Series home run, has found peace coaching youth baseball.

From Los Angeles Times

It’s hands down the modern era’s sharpest and most honest romantic comedy, a perfectly aimed home run, and it’s no wonder he was advised to follow it up with another one just like it.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• center
• dead center
• omphalos