swing for the fences

present singular third person swings for the fences · participle present swinging for the fences · participle past swung for the fences · past swung for the fences · alternative swing for the fence

1. USball gamesTo swing at the ball as hard as possible, with the aim of getting a home run.

   Don't swing for the fences unless it's an easy ball; be content with running part way.

2. USidiomaticTo do something extremely ambitious, especially rashly.

   I'm not going to swing for the fences tomorrow, but I'm hoping my speech will be warmly received.

   2 more examples

   “This is a very inexperienced government swinging for the fences in a situation where Labour is the strong favorite in the next election, if they don’t swing too far left,” said Kenneth S. Rogoff, a professor of economics at Harvard.

   2022 September 27, Mark Landler, quoting Kenneth S. Rogoff, “Truss Takes a Bold Economic Gamble. Will It Sink Her Government?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 19 Dec 2022

   Go on and swing for the fences / Take a shot at the moon / A dandelion that dances / Takes chances and fancies every little light in the room

   2025, “Swing For The Fences”, performed by Elton John and Brandi Carlile