line drive

noun

: a batted baseball hit in a nearly straight line usually not far above the ground

Examples of line drive in a Sentence

He hit a hard line drive to the shortstop.

Recent Examples on the Web

During the second inning, Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos lifted a sinking line drive into right field, conjuring Espada’s memories of a far more consequential fly ball hit to that same spot. —Chandler Rome, New York Times, 28 June 2025

The Giants took a 3-1 lead in the sixth as Bailey drove in Adames and Koss on a two-run triple when White Sox right fielder Ryan Noda dove and missed Bailey’s low line drive. —Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 27 June 2025

After a line drive left the bat of Julio Rodriguez with an exit velocity of 106.2 mph, Woods Richardson instinctively stuck out his glove and somehow snared the ball out of midair. —Dane Mizutani, Twin Cities, 27 June 2025

Batting from the right side of the plate, Lindor hit a long, low line drive to the opposite field that was nearly another home run. —Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 22 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1903, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for line drive

• overdrive
• alive
• archive
• arrive
• beehive
• connive
• contrive
• deprive
• derive
• revive
• survive
• dive

Kids Definition

line drive

noun

: a batted baseball hit not far above the ground in a nearly straight line