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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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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Clean energy systems are not just lower-carbon substitutes for fossil fuels.—
Maria Mendiluce,
Time,
30 Jan. 2026
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In Mapleton Public Schools, 66 teachers called out, and district officials were able to fill most of the absences with substitutes, Johnson said.—
Bruce Finley,
Denver Post,
30 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Boeing has been working on replacements, but the program has faced a series of delays.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
22 Jan. 2026
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As CinemaCon was getting underway in the spring, Bloomberg ran an audacious piece that Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav was interviewing the duo’s replacements.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
22 Jan. 2026
Noun
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When traffic is heavy or there are backups because of crashes or road work, onramp meters are activated.—
Don Sweeney,
Sacbee.com,
31 Jan. 2026
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These buckets store files such as photos, documents, receipts and backups.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
29 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pinch hitters.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pinch%20hitters. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
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