hardball
noun
hard·ball
ˈhärd-ˌbȯl 
1
: baseball
2
: forceful uncompromising methods employed to gain an end
played political hardball
Examples of hardball in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
On the other hand, governments such as China that adopted a hardball negotiating stance were often able to do business with Trump to their benefit.
—
Peter D. Feaver, Foreign Affairs, 19 Feb. 2024
What will be the outcome of Washington State president Kirk Schulz playing hardball with the College Football Playoff board of managers?
—Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 9 Feb. 2024
And Republican former baseball star Steve Garvey showed there’s a learning curve to political hardball.
—John Woolfolk, The Mercury News, 23 Jan. 2024
Real and enduring damage can come if political hardball tactics bring about a shutdown that lasts for months.
—Richard Vague, Fortune, 27 Sep. 2023
Best Buy is playing hardball with Amazon's October Prime Day 2023 tech sale.
—Kate Gibson, CBS News, 11 Oct. 2023
Meta played hardball, not only banning news links from being shared across Facebook but also stopping users from posting links to non-news sites such as official government health pages—during the pandemic.
—Nicole Kobie, WIRED, 11 Sep. 2023
Kohlrabi, for example, taste best when baseball size, as in hardball, not softball.
—Jeff Lowenfels, Anchorage Daily News, 6 July 2023
Mario, for instance, was excluded from the collection by Nintendo’s contractual hardball, and another was omitted because nobody could determine who owned its copyright.
—Julian Lucas, The New Yorker, 30 June 2023
Peter D. Feaver, Foreign Affairs, 19 Feb. 2024
What will be the outcome of Washington State president Kirk Schulz playing hardball with the College Football Playoff board of managers?
—Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 9 Feb. 2024
And Republican former baseball star Steve Garvey showed there’s a learning curve to political hardball.
—John Woolfolk, The Mercury News, 23 Jan. 2024
Real and enduring damage can come if political hardball tactics bring about a shutdown that lasts for months.
—Richard Vague, Fortune, 27 Sep. 2023
Best Buy is playing hardball with Amazon's October Prime Day 2023 tech sale.
—Kate Gibson, CBS News, 11 Oct. 2023
Meta played hardball, not only banning news links from being shared across Facebook but also stopping users from posting links to non-news sites such as official government health pages—during the pandemic.
—Nicole Kobie, WIRED, 11 Sep. 2023
Kohlrabi, for example, taste best when baseball size, as in hardball, not softball.
—Jeff Lowenfels, Anchorage Daily News, 6 July 2023
Mario, for instance, was excluded from the collection by Nintendo’s contractual hardball, and another was omitted because nobody could determine who owned its copyright.
—Julian Lucas, The New Yorker, 30 June 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hardball.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Hardball.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hardball. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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