dugout

noun

dug·​out ˈdəg-ˌau̇t 

1

: a boat made by hollowing out a large log

2

a

: a shelter dug in a hillside

also : a shelter dug in the ground and roofed with sod

b

: an area in the side of a trench for quarters, storage, or protection

3

: either of two low shelters on either side of and facing a baseball diamond that contain the players' benches

Examples of dugout in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Five minutes before the first pitch of Wednesday’s 8-7 win over the New York Yankees, as the umpiring crew exited its clubhouse, César Salazar emerged from the first-base dugout. —Chandler Rome, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2025

More Edmonds/Getty Images All of a sudden, Freeland was yelling at Devers, Devers was pausing his home run trot to yell back, and players were streaming out of dugouts to create a melee. —Jackson Roberts, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Sep. 2025

The complex, situated near the middle and high school, would feature dugouts, a padded backstop, field lights, fencing and scoreboards, as well as a dual-lane batting cage. —Matthew Kelly, Kansas City Star, 2 Sep. 2025

As the play ended, Adam immediately waved to the dugout for help. —Ryan Canfield, FOXNews.com, 2 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1819, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for dugout

• about
• bailout
• blackout
• blowout
• breakout
• burnout
• buyout
• checkout
• closeout
• cutout
• devout
• dropout

Kids Definition

dugout

noun

dug·​out ˈdəg-ˌau̇t 

1

: a boat made by hollowing out a log

2

: a shelter dug in a hillside or in the ground

3

: a low shelter facing a baseball diamond and containing the players' bench