ballpark
or ball park
[bawl-pahrk]
- a tract of land where ball games, especially baseball, are played.
- a baseball stadium.
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- Informal. being an approximation, based on an educated guess: Give me a ballpark figure on our total expenses for next year.
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- in the ballpark, Informal. within reasonable, acceptable, or expected limits: The price may go up another $10, but that's still in the ballpark.
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Origin of ballpark
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
ballpark
- US and Canadian a stadium used for baseball games
- informal
- approximate rangein the right ballpark
- (as modifier)a ballpark figure
- informal a situation; state of affairsit's a whole new ballpark for him
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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 in the ballpark
ballpark
n.
"baseball stadium," 1899, from (base)ball + park (n.). Figurative sense of "acceptable range of approximation" first recorded 1954, originally in the jargon of atomic weapons scientists, perhaps originally referring to area within which a missile was expected to return to earth; the reference is to broad but reasonably predictable dimensions.
The result, according to the author's estimate, is a stockpile equivalent to one billion tons of TNT. Assuming this estimate is "in the ball park," clearly there is valid reason for urging candor on the part of our government. [Ralph E. Lapp, "Atomic Candor," in "Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists," October 1954]
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with in the ballpark
in the ballpark
Also, out of the ballpark. See under ballpark figure.
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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.