home run

American  

[hohm ruhn] / ˈhoʊm ˈrʌn /

noun

home runs plural

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• home runs
  plural

Etymology

Origin of home run

An Americanism first recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

Tampa Bay Rays center fielder Cedric Mullins collided chest first into the blue padding of the center field wall as he made one last-ditch effort to save his team from a Dodgers home run.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 17, 2026

Rasmussen lasted through the seventh inning, leaving that home run as the only blemish on his outing.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 17, 2026

A couple of feet separated Rushing’s foul ball from a home run.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 16, 2026

I had a late start, and by the time I reached the fence, the ball bounced off my glove and over the barrier for a grand-slam home run.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 9, 2026

Emma grabbed Finn by the shoulders and started jumping up and down, like kids on the playground whose team had just scored a goal or a touchdown or a home run.

From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Related Words

• center
• dead center
• omphalos