: known or understood only by a small group of people : esoteric
"Nick, even I don't understand those clues," Go said. "They're all inside baseball between you and Amy … "—
Gillian Flynn
Gillian FlynnIt might be a bit inside baseball to some, but I love it when crossword constructors poke fun at puzzle-making conventions.—Deb Amien
Deb AmienWe have, however, tried to shy away from the super-scientific words—they're just too inside baseball unless you're an actual distiller.—Zach Johnston
Zach JohnstonThis is very inside baseball, but the House Rules Committee meets today to consider a series of rule changes for the 2021 and 2022 legislative sessions.—Dan McGowan
Dan McGowanEarnings reports are always a bit dry and inside baseball for the casual entertainment industry observer.—Brandon Katz
Brandon Katz
: something known or understood only by a small group of people
If the ethics issues amount to inside baseball for many voters, Mr. Carter is betting that the issue of underfunded schools will strike a more universal chord.—Richard Fausset
Richard FaussetIt would be easy to regard the fate of legislative history in the Roberts court as so much inside baseball, of interest only to fanatical Supreme Court groupies.—Linda Greenhouse
Linda GreenhouseIt's not that a person outside that audience can't watch and, in broad strokes, understand the story of Mank. It's that to an extent, the film feels like inside baseball.—Alissa Wilkinson
Alissa WilkinsonExamples of inside baseball in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Hershal Pandya, Vulture, 6 Sep. 2024
The Jilly Cooper adaptation launches today and the first ep at the very least is an absolute riot, with starry performances aplenty and a pleasing ‘inside baseball’ vibe in its portrayal of the commercial TV sector in the 1980s.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 18 Oct. 2024
Another challenge was to avoid making the film and its dialogue too inside baseball for audiences with less AI knowledge.
—Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Aug. 2024
Republicans likened the headlines over Trump's past comments as inside baseball rather than a campaign earthquake.
—Tal Axelrod, ABC News, 1 Aug. 2024
Cunningham seeds his narrative with the kind of inside baseball shop talk that political junkies will adore.
—Constance Grady, Vox, 20 July 2024
The action-comedy about a stunt man working on his ex-girlfriend’s movie was a little too inside baseball to attract a wider crowd.
—Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 26 June 2024
Get Citation Request Reprint Permissions Ranking universities might seem like intellectual inside baseball, an academic game of interest only to professors and to prospective students.
—Peter Campbell, Foreign Affairs, 15 Sep. 2013
And this might be a little inside baseball but this business has been quite precarious at different times.
—Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 18 June 2024
Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Mar. 2023
Frankly, what inside baseball there is on hand seems pale by comparison as well.
—Laura Jedeed, The New Republic, 4 Mar. 2023
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Adjective
Some might say a joke about gaming late-night consumption platforms to maximize personal exposure is too inside baseball, but not After Midnight.
—Hershal Pandya, Vulture, 6 Sep. 2024
The Jilly Cooper adaptation launches today and the first ep at the very least is an absolute riot, with starry performances aplenty and a pleasing ‘inside baseball’ vibe in its portrayal of the commercial TV sector in the 1980s.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 18 Oct. 2024
Another challenge was to avoid making the film and its dialogue too inside baseball for audiences with less AI knowledge.
—Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Aug. 2024
Republicans likened the headlines over Trump's past comments as inside baseball rather than a campaign earthquake.
—Tal Axelrod, ABC News, 1 Aug. 2024
Cunningham seeds his narrative with the kind of inside baseball shop talk that political junkies will adore.
—Constance Grady, Vox, 20 July 2024
The action-comedy about a stunt man working on his ex-girlfriend’s movie was a little too inside baseball to attract a wider crowd.
—Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 26 June 2024
Get Citation Request Reprint Permissions Ranking universities might seem like intellectual inside baseball, an academic game of interest only to professors and to prospective students.
—Peter Campbell, Foreign Affairs, 15 Sep. 2013
And this might be a little inside baseball but this business has been quite precarious at different times.
—Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 18 June 2024
Noun
A little bit of inside baseball and a little bit of she had moved on.
—Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Mar. 2023
Frankly, what inside baseball there is on hand seems pale by comparison as well.
—Laura Jedeed, The New Republic, 4 Mar. 2023
Dictionary Entries Near inside baseball
Cite this Entry
“Inside baseball.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inside%20baseball. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.
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