judgment call
Americannoun
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Sports. an observational ruling by a referee or umpire that is necessarily subjective because of the disputable nature of the play in question, and one that may be appealed but not protested, as opposed to a matter of official rule interpretation.
Balks and close plays at first are of course judgment calls, and umpires are human.
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any subjective or debatable determination; personal opinion or interpretation.
Etymology
Origin of judgment call
First recorded in 1840–50
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I made a judgment call based on information we obtained from the hotel, events I had witnessed in the days prior and the heightened overall security risk of our location.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026
If the company’s management continues to conclude that collectibility from OpenAI is probable, that judgment call had better be right.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 3, 2026
“I’m not going to make a judgment call on one video,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 8, 2026
Especially because you now know the airline won’t make that judgment call for you.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 3, 2025
With flames consuming the compound at an alarming rate, the captain made a judgment call.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
