smallball

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A form of small ball — A baseball strategy that relies on baserunning, singles, and hitting for average rather than hitting home runs.

Scrabble 13
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Meanings

nounsmallball (uncountable)
  1. alternativeuncountableball gamesAlternative spelling of small ball.

    There was no heroic ending — Toronto's Joey Votto coming up a triple shy of hitting for the cycle, and some brilliantly executed smallball saw to that — as the visitors claimed victory to avoid being swept in the three-game series.

    2009 June 26, Mark Zwolinski, “Blue Jays rally gets wasted”, in Toronto Star

Origin

From small + ball.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

smallball. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/smallball

MLA

“smallball.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/smallball. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “smallball,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/smallball.

Source: smallball on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.