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Glite Dictionary
whiffer

whiffer

1 9.4
A baseball player who swings and misses on their third strike
  • noun
  • /ˈwɪfər/
  • Jargon
: fallador

Examples

  • Fans groaned as the star hitter turned into a whiffer in the bottom of the ninth inning.

  • He worked hard to avoid being labeled a whiffer by his teammates.

  • The rookie was called a whiffer after missing the pitch three times in a row.

  • He is a notorious whiffer in the league.

  • During the game, Jake became a whiffer after three strikes.

  • During the game, he became a notorious whiffer after striking out three times.

  • The pitcher was pleased to see that the batter was just another whiffer who couldn't hit his fastballs.

  • Fans jokingly called the player a whiffer when he swung and missed at the final pitch.

Antonyms

hitter
  • US
127 1.9

A baseball player who bats to score runs

Surface Forms

whiffer singular
whiffers plural

Morphology

whiffer = whiff (transparent) = whiff + er

Agentive formation from the verb 'whiff' (to miss) + '-er' yields 'whiffer' meaning 'one who whiffs'; the meaning is predictable though colloquial.

Etymology

The word whiffer comes from the sound word whiff, which can mean a quick 'whoosh' or a small 'smell'. In baseball a whiff came to mean a 'missed swing', so a whiffer is someone who swings and misses.