in the dirt

idiom

baseball, of a pitch

: having hit the ground near home plate before reaching the catcher

He swung and missed at a curveball in the dirt.

Examples of in the dirt in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Urías booted a ball in the dirt with his glove to allow the leadoff man to reach and Henderson mishandled a double play ball that could have ended the inning. —

Matt Weyrich, Baltimore Sun, 2 Apr. 2024 Since melons are grown in the dirt, unwanted bugs can accumulate on their outer surface. —

Anthea Levi, Health, 6 Aug. 2024 The mother and three puppies were lying in the dirt near the truck. —

Ethan Baron, The Mercury News, 31 July 2024 Johnny Bench Bench revolutionized the position (and allegedly ruined generations of young catchers) with his style of defense, catching everything, even the ones in the dirt, with that effortless one-handed style. —

Mike Decaire, Twin Cities, 19 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for in the dirt

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'in the dirt.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.