strikeout

1 of 2

noun

strike·​out ˈstrīk-ˌau̇t 

: an out in baseball resulting from a batter's being charged with three strikes

strike out

2 of 2

verb

struck out; struck out also stricken out; striking out; strikes out

intransitive verb

1

: to enter upon a course of action

2

: to set out vigorously

3

: to make an out in baseball by a strikeout

4

: to finish bowling a string with consecutive strikes

specifically : to bowl three strikes in the last frame

5

: fail sense 2c

transitive verb

of a baseball pitcher : to retire (someone) by a strikeout

Synonyms

Verb

• bomb
• collapse
• crater
• fail
• flame out
• flop
• flunk
• fold
• founder
• miss
• tank
• wash out

Examples of strikeout in a Sentence

Verb

their joint venture in Las Vegas struck out, and they hurriedly dissolved the partnership

struck out all references to indecent matters

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

His slider alone accounted for 102 of his 195 strikeouts. —Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 21 Oct. 2024

Following a Gleyber Torres strikeout, up came the big offseason acquisition Soto, who was traded to the Yankees from the San Diego Padres in a seven-player trade in December. —Homero De La Fuente, CNN, 20 Oct. 2024

Verb

And after Treinen struck out Rizzo to end the inning, there was one more player who needed to rise to the occasion. —Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 1 Nov. 2024

Cole responded by striking out Gavin Lux and Shohei Ohtani. —Rohan Nadkarni, NBC News, 31 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1887, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1707, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Kids Definition

strikeout

1 of 2 noun

strike·​out ˈstrī-ˌkau̇t 

: an out in baseball resulting from a batter's being charged with three strikes

strike out

2 of 2 verb

(ˈ)strī-ˈkau̇t

1

: to enter upon a course of action

struck out on my own after graduation

2

: to make an out or cause to make an out in baseball by a strikeout

the shortstop struck out

the pitcher struck him out with a curve