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Glite Dictionary
fair territory

fair territory

5.2
Part of a baseball field between the first and third base lines where a hit ball is in play
  • noun
  • /fɛr ˈtɛrɪtɔri/
  • Jargon
translation icon : zona de juego
  • He hit that pitch into fair territory...

Examples

  • Foliated in pockets, the black cracks, especially against the forest green that contrasts with the barn red of the space outside the lines to signify fair territory, give the courts the eerie look of well-rivered sections of Illinois, seen from back aloft.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • The ball landed safely in fair territory, allowing the runners to advance to the next base.

  • The coach pointed out that any batted ball that falls in fair territory counts as in play.

  • During the game, he skillfully caught the ball after it soared into fair territory.

Synonyms

fair ball
vsfair territory
  • Specialized
1 3.9

A ball hit by the batter that lands between the foul lines and is in play

is the playing-field area between the base lines where hits count as in play

Surface Forms

fair territory singular
fair territories plural

Morphology

fair + territory

The phrase is compositional: 'fair' (here meaning not foul/in play) modifies 'territory' (an area), so it denotes the area of the field where a batted ball is considered in play. A B1 learner who knows both constituent meanings (including the baseball sense of 'fair') can derive this interpretation without prior exposure.

Etymology

Fair territory comes from the simple idea of marking a baseball field into two parts: the area or territory called fair and the area called 'foul'. A ball that lands in the fair area is 'in play', so fair territory means 'the part of the field where a batted ball is in play'.