at bat

noun

plural at bats

baseball

: a turn at batting

had three hits in five at bats

Note: For the purposes of calculating a player's batting average and slugging percentage, an official at bat is charged for each turn at batting except when the player walks, hits a sacrifice bunt or sacrifice fly, is hit by a pitched ball, or is interfered with by the catcher.

Examples of at bat in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In the next at bat, third baseman Brooks Lee slapped a two-RBI single with a ball placed between Caglianone and Michael Massey to give the Twins a 4-3 lead, their first of the game. — Pj Green, Kansas City Star, 7 Aug. 2026

Schaffner started at shortstop and batted third, driving in a run in his first at bat, and Hull batted fifth as the DH and walked and hit a two-run single his first two times at the plate. — Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 2 Aug. 2026

Seigler didn’t expect to get much playing time with Trevor Story and Marcelo Mayer on the roster, but both have been out most of the season with injuries, so Seigler has gotten 113 at bats and put up a 105 OPS+. — Dan Freedman, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 2026

On the next at bat, Perez hit his 14th home run of the season and 317th of his career to tie the Royals’ franchise record. — ABC News, 22 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1908, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for at bat

• begat
• bobcat
• chitchat
• doormat
• ducat
• eclat
• format
• hazmat
• muskrat
• nonfat
• polecat
• thereat