as in substitutes
a person or thing that takes the place of another
the business owners brought in a pinch hitter until a permanent manager could be hired
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pinch hitters
The Jays used four pinch hitters and defensive substitutions.
—
Mitch Bannon, New York Times, 22 Sep. 2025
The club went silently in the bottom of the ninth, with pinch hitters Carlos Narvaez, Rob Refsnyder and Nick Sogard going down 1-2-3.
—Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 18 Sep. 2025
There’s also pressure on the bench because teammates, like pinch hitters, never know when they may be subbed in.
—Candace Oehler, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2025
Mitch Bannon, New York Times, 22 Sep. 2025
The club went silently in the bottom of the ninth, with pinch hitters Carlos Narvaez, Rob Refsnyder and Nick Sogard going down 1-2-3.
—Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 18 Sep. 2025
There’s also pressure on the bench because teammates, like pinch hitters, never know when they may be subbed in.
—Candace Oehler, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pinch hitters
Noun
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But the 34-year-old German helped Brighton manage the last 20 minutes of a routine 2-0 victory over second-from-bottom Burnley with efficiency, alongside fellow substitutes Danny Welbeck and James Milner, as Fabian Hurzeler’s side ended a run of six matches without a win with the minimum of fuss.—
Andy Naylor,
New York Times,
5 Jan. 2026
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Training must emphasize that risk scores and recommendations are tools for professional judgment, not substitutes for it.—
Maureen Flatley,
Boston Herald,
31 Dec. 2025
Noun
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But this session will be Polis’ last, and union groups — who have shelved plans to launch a pro-worker ballot campaign — are now starting to eye the governor’s would-be replacements.—
Seth Klamann,
Denver Post,
8 Jan. 2026
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Kennedy also fired all 17 members of the CDC's vaccine advisory panel and handpicked their replacements, and has been criticized.—
Dr. Jade Cobern,
ABC News,
7 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The Tangem Wallet allows users to add extra cards as hardware backups, so the user’s private key is redundantly stored across identical secure elements with no mnemonic to hide, copy, or accidentally leak.—
Wyles Daniel,
USA Today,
6 Nov. 2025
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The longer the shutdown lasts, the greater the risk of cargo backups at these Texas ports due to unpaid employees calling in sick.—
The NPR Network,
NPR,
6 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pinch hitters.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pinch%20hitters. Accessed 9 Jan. 2026.
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