banjo hitter

noun

baseball
: a batter who lacks power : a weak hitter
The public address system announces each batter with thundering resonance, whether it be Babe Ruth or a banjo hitter just called up from Vancouver.—Martin F. Nolan, Boston Globe, 12 Aug. 1998
banjo-hitting adjective
… I was a scrawny, banjo-hitting second-baseman. —King Kaufman, Salon.com, 7 Jan. 2009

Word History

Etymology

banjo hit "a weakly hit ball" (from a fanciful comparison of the pinging sound made by a weak hit to the sound of a banjo) + -er entry 2

First Known Use

1935, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of banjo hitter was in 1935

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Dictionary Entries Near banjo hitter

banjo hit

banjo hitter

banjorine

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Banjo hitter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/banjo%20hitter. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.

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