ˈpinch-ˈhit 
ˌpinch-
pinch-hit; pinch-hitting; pinch-hits
1
: to act or serve in place of another
2
: to bat in the place of another player especially when a hit is particularly needed
: a hit made by a pinch hitter
Examples of pinch-hit in a Sentence
Verb
assigned to pinch-hit as a math teacher for the remainder of the semester
Recent Examples on the Web
Nelson Espinal, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Oct. 2025
Lukes had one of the big plate appearances, a pinch-hit, RBI walk after falling behind 0-2 against Dodgers righty Emmet Sheehan in the sixth to increase the Jays’ lead to 4-2.
—Ken Rosenthal, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
Katie Woo, New York Times, 2 Nov. 2025
Bichette played second in Game 1 but only pinch hit in Game 2.
—Greg Rosenstein, NBC news, 28 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pinch-hit
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Verb
Alex Call, who has pinch-hit for Pages at times, is 4-for-9, showing better results and raising questions about who is the right option for the Dodgers at this point in the season.
—Nelson Espinal, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Oct. 2025
Lukes had one of the big plate appearances, a pinch-hit, RBI walk after falling behind 0-2 against Dodgers righty Emmet Sheehan in the sixth to increase the Jays’ lead to 4-2.
—Ken Rosenthal, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
Noun
Roberts could have opted to pinch hit for Rojas in the moment, but elected to trust his gut.
—Katie Woo, New York Times, 2 Nov. 2025
Bichette played second in Game 1 but only pinch hit in Game 2.
—Greg Rosenstein, NBC news, 28 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pinch-hit
Cite this Entry
“Pinch-hit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pinch-hit. Accessed 13 Nov. 2025.
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