pinch hitter
noun
Baseball.
a substitute who bats for a teammate, often at a critical moment of the game.
any substitute for another, especially in an emergency.
Origin of pinch hitter
An Americanism dating back to 1910–15
Words nearby pinch hitter
pinch,
pinch bar,
pinch effect,
pinch graft,
pinch hit,
pinch hitter,
pinch pennies,
pinch pleat,
pinch point,
pinch roller,
pinch runner
Idioms and Phrases with pinch hitter
pinch hitter
A substitute for another person, especially in an emergency. For example, Pat expected her mother to help with the baby, but just in case, she lined up her mother-in-law as pinch hitter. This expression comes from baseball, where it is used for a player substituting for another at bat at a critical point or in a tight situation (called a pinch since the late 1400s). [Late 1800s]