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Glite Dictionary
🎶 A person humming 🐦 A hummingbird ⚾ A fast pitch
hummer

hummer

1 9.1
A very fast baseball pitch that is hard to hit
  • noun
  • /ˈhʌmər/
  • Jargon
translation icon : lanzamiento rápido
  • Hummers were designed for the freaking military!

Examples

  • The pitcher threw a fast hummer that caught the batter off guard.

  • The notion that it was okay because "all Hummers were hit" or "the snowballs were soft" is logically indefensible.

    Blog text (13)

  • During the game, he proudly noted that his team hit every hummer thrown at them.

  • After throwing a few slow pitches, he decided to deliver a powerful hummer to surprise the batters.

Synonyms

fastball
vshummer
  • US
55 3.2

A very fast, straight pitch in baseball

is the informal US baseball term rather than the standard technical name
bullet
vshummer
  • Jargon
34 7.5

A very fast pitch in baseball

is a common informal US term used more widely than this slangy label
smoke
vshummer
  • Slang
8 8.5

A very fast pitch in baseball

is the informal US baseball term and is less slangy and less vivid
heater
vshummer
  • Jargon
3 8.7

A very fast ball thrown by the pitcher in baseball

is the informal US baseball term rather than casual team speech

How Fast

hummer
  • Jargon
1 9.1
changeup
  • Specialized
5 5.6
lob
10 4.4

Surface Forms

hummer singular
hummers plural

Morphology

hummer = hum (semi-transparent) = hum + er

The form is clearly built from 'hum' + '-er', but the baseball meaning is a specialized slang extension based on the sound a fast pitch may make.

Etymology

Hummer in baseball comes from the idea of hum, because a very fast pitch can seem to 'hum' through the air. A helpful way to remember it is to picture the ball making a quick buzzing sound as it flies past the batter, which is why a hummer means a very fast pitch.