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home run

See more synonyms for home run on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. 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.
  2. a complete or unqualified success: trying to hit a home run at the box office.
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Origin of home run

An Americanism dating back to 1855–60
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for home run

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • 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
  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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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.).

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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.

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