brushback
noun
brush·back
ˈbrəsh-ˌbak 
: a pitch intentionally thrown near the batter's head or body in baseball
brush back
transitive verb
Examples of brushback in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
And in Major League Baseball, brushback pitches, beanballs and brawls are part of the sport’s lore, and are excused as apt punishment for breaking the game’s unwritten rules.
—
Michael A. Fletcher, Washington Post, 13 Apr. 2023
Conway offered a brushback pitch when asked to handicap the Florida governors’ chances against Trump.
—Dallas News, 4 Nov. 2022
Marichal and Koufax had exchanged brushback pitches to Maury Wills and Willie Mays, respectively.
—Los Angeles Times, 22 Aug. 2022
Shortly after the attack, the longtime anchor Shepard Smith, a beloved figure in the Fox newsroom, threw a brushback pitch at his own network.
—New York Times, 30 Apr. 2022
For a while, in the fall, the city was a delight, with some improvisational recapturing of the streets, a more alive streetscape, a reimagining of sidewalks, and a brushback of the automobile.
—Nick Paumgarten, The New Yorker, 22 Feb. 2021
Tlaib has already felt the brushback from a few of her future colleagues.
—Eslah Attar, Glamour, 13 Dec. 2018
The latest head-swerving shift in Trump’s approach to North Korea’s nuclear threat appeared a direct brushback to Trump’s own national security advisor, John Bolton, a hard-line hawk who had pushed the upfront and all-at-once disarmament scenario.
—Tracy Wilkinson, latimes.com, 6 June 2018
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Michael A. Fletcher, Washington Post, 13 Apr. 2023
Conway offered a brushback pitch when asked to handicap the Florida governors’ chances against Trump.
—Dallas News, 4 Nov. 2022
Marichal and Koufax had exchanged brushback pitches to Maury Wills and Willie Mays, respectively.
—Los Angeles Times, 22 Aug. 2022
Shortly after the attack, the longtime anchor Shepard Smith, a beloved figure in the Fox newsroom, threw a brushback pitch at his own network.
—New York Times, 30 Apr. 2022
For a while, in the fall, the city was a delight, with some improvisational recapturing of the streets, a more alive streetscape, a reimagining of sidewalks, and a brushback of the automobile.
—Nick Paumgarten, The New Yorker, 22 Feb. 2021
Tlaib has already felt the brushback from a few of her future colleagues.
—Eslah Attar, Glamour, 13 Dec. 2018
The latest head-swerving shift in Trump’s approach to North Korea’s nuclear threat appeared a direct brushback to Trump’s own national security advisor, John Bolton, a hard-line hawk who had pushed the upfront and all-at-once disarmament scenario.
—Tracy Wilkinson, latimes.com, 6 June 2018
Cite this Entry
“Brushback.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brushback. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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