inning

[in-ing]

noun

1. Baseball.,  a division of a game during which each team has an opportunity to score until three outs have been made against it.

2. a similar opportunity to score in certain other games, as horseshoes.

3. an opportunity for activity; a turn.

   Now the opposition will have its inning.

4. (used with a singular verb),  innings,

   1. Cricket.,  a unit of play in which each team has a turn at bat, the turn of a team ending after ten players are put out or when the team declares.

   2. land reclaimed, especially from the sea.

5. the act of reclaiming marshy or flooded land.

6. enclosure, as of wasteland.

7. the gathering in of crops.

inning

/ ˈɪnɪŋ /

noun

1. baseball a division of the game consisting of a turn at bat and a turn in the field for each side

2. archaic,  the reclamation of land from the sea

Word History and Origins

Origin of inning¹

before 900; Middle English inninge, Old English innung a getting in, equivalent to inn ( ian ) to go in + -ung -ing ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of inning¹

Old English innung a going in, from innian to go in

Example Sentences

India are favourites to sweep the two-match series after they won the opener by an innings and 140 runs.

Read more on Barron's

The Christchurch carnage in 2022 came as she topped the run-scoring charts, but this knock followed six innings in India since the start of last month in which she had failed to pass 30.

Read more on BBC

All-rounder Annabel Sutherland swung some of the momentum back Australia's way in the second half of India's innings as she finished with impressive figures of 5-40.

Read more on BBC

Her innings, laced with 21 fours and three sixes, set up the record chase and rewrote the history books, eclipsing Sri Lanka's previous best of 302 against South Africa in Potchefstroom in 2024.

Read more on Barron's

Thirty-one days — and 5 ⅓ scoreless, invaluable innings of postseason relief work from Sasaki — later, it was a moment that might have helped save the Dodgers season, and launch the rest of his MLB career.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• round 
• shot 
• stint 
• stretch