How to Use backstop in a Sentence

backstop

1 of 2 noun
  • The pitch got past the catcher and rolled all the way to the backstop.
  • The ball hit off Sam Huff’s glove and rolled to the backstop.
    Dallas News, 13 July 2022
  • Greene threw a wild pitch that went all the way to the backstop.
    Charlie Goldsmith, The Enquirer, 10 July 2022
  • Yet there was still a backstop, a way for the panic to end.
    Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 9 Dec. 2021
  • At the end of August, the fencing for the field and backstop will be replaced.
    Matt Leavitt, cleveland, 18 Aug. 2023
  • Aim at a safe backstop like a target, berm, or soft piece of ground, and shoot.
    Anthony Licata, Field & Stream, 29 June 2023
  • But the throw trickled off the catcher’s mitt and rolled to the backstop, scoring a pair and tying the game 2-2.
    Matt Doherty, BostonGlobe.com, 10 June 2023
  • The ball caromed off the backstop and back between the home plate umpire’s legs.
    Mark Heim | Mheim@al.com, al, 16 Aug. 2022
  • The ball took an awkward hop to the backstop, though, allowing Curlis to reach.
    Shelby Dermer, The Enquirer, 26 May 2023
  • Although Moreno came up as a shortstop, the Blue Jays had signed him as a backstop.
    The Arizona Republic, 27 Mar. 2023
  • On a full count, a slider to Vimael Machin went to the backstop for a bases-loaded walk.
    Janie McCauley, ajc, 26 Aug. 2022
  • Sea Dogs backstop Nathan Hickey is next in line at No. 21.
    Conor Ryan, BostonGlobe.com, 10 July 2023
  • The Guardians backstop picked up his first hit and RBI of the season, snapping an 0-for-21 skid in the losing effort.
    Joe Noga, cleveland, 17 Apr. 2022
  • And, of course, defense is a backstop against the failure of deterrence.
    The Editors, National Review, 10 Oct. 2022
  • The appetite to hire keeps providing a backstop as well.
    Anneken Tappe, CNN, 3 June 2022
  • Automakers would serve as a backstop for the batteries that fall through the cracks.
    Wired, 2 Nov. 2021
  • The ex-Sabres backstop logged his second shutout since arriving as a free agent.
    Kevin Paul Dupont, BostonGlobe.com, 28 Oct. 2022
  • New players who sign up and claim this offer will have access to a $1,000 backstop.
    cleveland, 1 Jan. 2023
  • In the latest case, the firm replaced the backstop agreement with the $8.9 billion settlement, J&J’s lawyers said.
    Steven Church, Fortune, 5 Apr. 2023
  • The sir is in charge of updating the scoreboard, which is nothing more than numbers scribbled in chalk at the base of the backstop.
    John Shea, San Francisco Chronicle, 18 Sep. 2022
  • There’s the ballfield just north of Batesville, Indiana, with the chicken-wire backstop and the nuns buried nearby.
    Gregg Doyel, The Indianapolis Star, 30 June 2022
  • Joe, her husband, is usually in his fold-up chair near the backstop.
    Stephen Borelli, USA TODAY, 31 Mar. 2023
  • That could be a key part of the process, as the council could act as a backstop to the contract negotiations.
    Danny McDonald, BostonGlobe.com, 5 July 2023
  • The throw bounced between catcher Tyler Stephenson’s legs and rolled to the backstop, allowing a run to score on the error.
    Bobby Nightengale, The Enquirer, 16 July 2022
  • As a backstop against delays, the House planned to pass a bill Wednesday keeping agencies afloat through March 15.
    Alan Fram, chicagotribune.com, 9 Mar. 2022
  • The Eagles, on the way back to their cabin that evening, noticed that their rivals had attached a team flag to the backstop of the baseball field.
    Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 27 Dec. 2021
  • Bard’s next pitch dove into the dirt behind the batter, narrowly missing his heels, and rolled to the backstop.
    Louisa Thomas, The New Yorker, 12 June 2023
  • Hansel Robles entered and threw his first pitch to Aaron Judge to the backstop, allowing Urshela to score.
    Kyle Hightower, courant.com, 26 Sep. 2021
  • The former Ranger backstop thrived and made his first All-Star appearance this season.
    Dallas News, 20 Oct. 2022
  • The former Louisville backstop is known for his powerful bat and rocket arm.
    Indystar Sports, The Indianapolis Star, 7 June 2023
Advertisement

backstop

2 of 2 verb
  • Casali — in for a resting Posey — is the fifth catcher since at least 1900 to backstop a shutout in five straight starts.
    Janie McCauley, sun-sentinel.com, 23 Apr. 2021
  • None of them needed the Fed to backstop them that night, but the future was deeply uncertain.
    David Benoit, WSJ, 24 Dec. 2020
  • Precisely how much salt is needed in the crust to backstop the caramel?
    Julia Moskin, New York Times, 5 Nov. 2019
  • But the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 required an act of Congress to backstop uninsured deposits.
    Stephen Miran, wsj.com, 10 May 2023
  • Now, some of the world’s top investors are lining up to backstop his ambitions.
    Anchorage Daily News, 5 May 2022
  • Banks find buyers for a company’s shares and backstop the stock price.
    Amrith Ramkumar, WSJ, 5 Jan. 2021
  • Plumlee could not help Friday but will be counted on to backstop Zubac as soon as the next game on Tuesday night.
    Andrew Greif, Los Angeles Times, 10 Feb. 2023
  • New York State could put in the same model to encourage the formation of such funds to backstop franchise loans.
    Peter Su, Rolling Stone, 2 May 2022
  • Dryden went on to backstop the Habs to six Stanley Cup titles in the ’70s, swatting down the Bruins four times along the playoff trail.
    Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 21 Mar. 2020
  • Both starting goalies have been underachievers thus far, but Holtby is in the better form of late and will backstop the Caps to a home win.
    Chris Wassel, USA TODAY Sportsbook Wire, 29 Nov. 2019
  • Boston Bruins Does Frederik Andersen have enough gas in the tank to backstop a two-month playoff run?
    Si.com Staff, SI.com, 10 Apr. 2018
  • The 2014 Vezina Trophy winner as the league’s top goaltender is looking to backstop the Bruins to a third Cup final in six years.
    Stephen Whyno, courant.com, 29 May 2021
  • It's had the effect of sending stocks and bonds into the stratosphere, as it's become clear to investors that the Fed will now backstop a lot of fragile corporates.
    Bernhard Warner, Fortune, 22 June 2020
  • His second year with the team saw him backstop the Sharks to their first ever Stanley Cup Final appearance.
    Brian Ricks, The Mercury News, 16 Sep. 2019
  • The federal government has pledged to backstop deposits at both banks.
    Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 15 Mar. 2023
  • Fellow Nationals backstop Yan Gomes ducks his head to avoid getting hit on a backswing.
    Matthew Gutierrez, The Denver Post, 4 Sep. 2019
  • Saudi Arabia has led an effort to backstop oil prices with a series of production cuts.
    David Uberti, WSJ, 15 June 2023
  • And Trump immediately fumed that the Fed was not doing enough to prop up markets and backstop the economy.
    Jeff Stein, Washington Post, 9 Mar. 2020
  • Without the government’s decision to backstop them all, many companies would have lost funds needed to meet payroll, pay bills, and keep the lights on.
    Christopher Rugaber, BostonGlobe.com, 13 Mar. 2023
  • Because such funds may include even riskier holdings, the Fed will backstop the purchases at a ratio of $1 to every $3 spent.
    Rich Miller, Time, 10 Apr. 2020
  • The most important is that not all people own a smartphone at all, much less multiple devices that can backstop each other if one is lost or stolen.
    Lily Hay Newman, Wired, 17 Mar. 2022
  • The Swiss government agreed to effectively backstop the deal.
    Wsj Staff, WSJ, 20 Mar. 2023
  • The rest was intended to backstop state and local governments, ease the pain of job losses and pump money into pocketbooks.
    Los Angeles Times, 11 Mar. 2022
  • The West’s willingness to backstop the Ukrainian military has, in fact, reduced Russia’s war aims.
    Sam Greene, Foreign Affairs, 16 Mar. 2023
  • But Trump has been having a hard time rallying other countries to backstop his push to impose new tariffs on Chinese goods.
    Erica Werner, chicagotribune.com, 13 Apr. 2018
  • That is what happened in March, when the Federal Reserve stepped in to backstop the funds, which are normally considered safe by investors.
    Andrew Ackerman and Paul Kiernan, WSJ, 16 Oct. 2020
  • So long as a euro area member chose the path of necessary but painful economic reforms, the bank stood ready to backstop government spending.
    Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 21 July 2022
  • The gains in the crypto market come in the aftermath of Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse and a rush by regulators to backstop deposits.
    Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune Crypto, 14 Mar. 2023
  • The economic rescue bill approved by the Senate early Thursday includes $425 billion that the Treasury could use to backstop the Fed.
    Time, 26 Mar. 2020
  • But it’s also showed the resilience of just our overall ability to backstop the financial system.
    Quartz Staff, Quartz, 23 May 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'backstop.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: