as in replacement
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
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Recent Examples of pinch hitter
The Twins’ eighth-inning rally fell short when pinch hitter Carson McCusker — in for Mickey Gasper, who had hit a home run in his previous at-bat — grounded out to short.
—
Betsy Helfand, Twin Cities, 14 Sep. 2025
Pinch runner Tyler Tolbert replaced Caglianone and Nick Loftin came to the plate as a pinch hitter.
—Kansas City Star, 11 Sep. 2025
San Diego filled the bases in the seventh with one out via walks to Jake Cronenworth, pinch hitter Ryan O'Hearn and Fernando Tatis Jr.
—Field Level Media, Reuters, 3 Sep. 2025
Prieto struck out as a pinch hitter against hard-throwing Tony Santillan of the Cincinnati Reds in his MLB debut.
—Chuck Murr, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pinch hitter
Betsy Helfand, Twin Cities, 14 Sep. 2025
Pinch runner Tyler Tolbert replaced Caglianone and Nick Loftin came to the plate as a pinch hitter.
—Kansas City Star, 11 Sep. 2025
San Diego filled the bases in the seventh with one out via walks to Jake Cronenworth, pinch hitter Ryan O'Hearn and Fernando Tatis Jr.
—Field Level Media, Reuters, 3 Sep. 2025
Prieto struck out as a pinch hitter against hard-throwing Tony Santillan of the Cincinnati Reds in his MLB debut.
—Chuck Murr, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pinch hitter
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pinch hitter
Noun
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Lee is coming off a knee replacement, which means the former USDHS and UC San Diego standout may soon be kicking the ball around with her team.—
Steve Brand,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
1 Feb. 2026
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In this sense, it can be thought of as less of a replacement for things like air conditioning, but rather a cooling buffer or kind of capacitor.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
1 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Gruda’s performances have not been at a level that would entitle him to expect to be a regular starter (10 of 18 league appearances this season have been as a substitute).—
Andy Naylor,
New York Times,
3 Feb. 2026
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Zagorac was fired from substitute teaching jobs in Naperville District 203, Hinsdale District 181 and Schaumburg District 54 in 2005, after the districts realized their background checks did not extend beyond Illinois’ borders, according to the Naperville Sun.—
Olivia Stevens,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Jan. 2026
Noun
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These buckets store files such as photos, documents, receipts and backups.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
29 Jan. 2026
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The committee voted to fully fund payments to jails, which have housed some offenders as a backup, and for medical payments.—
Seth Klamann,
Denver Post,
29 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pinch hitter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pinch%20hitter. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026.
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