squeeze play

noun

1

: a baseball play in which a runner on third base starts for home plate as the ball is being pitched and the batter attempts to bunt to give the runner a chance to score

2

: the exertion of pressure in order to extort a concession or gain a goal

Examples of squeeze play in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Near the end of his shift, the controller handling both helicopters and commercial jets tried to pull off a complicated, and potentially risky, maneuver controllers refer to as a squeeze play. —Kate Kelly, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2025

The Eagles tacked on three runs in the sixth, piecing together three hits, an error and squeeze play that scored a run. —Don Norcross, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 May 2025

Little Margin for Error Image Near the end of his shift, the controller handling both helicopters and commercial jets tried to pull off a complicated, and potentially risky, maneuver called a squeeze play. —Kate Kelly, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2025

San Francisco executed a squeeze play — Brett Wisely bunting, Ramos scoring. —Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 7 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1905, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for squeeze play

• andromache
• bioassay
• cabriolet
• cercariae
• communique
• companionway
• compositae
• decussate
• examinee
• fabaceae
• glyphosate
• microarray