Meaning & use
perfect game in baseball
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Meanings
nouncountablesport
A baseball game in which a pitcher allows no opposing batter to reach base at all, for the whole game.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a perfect game' or 'two perfect games'. It is a fixed sports term, so keep the whole phrase together.
Patterns
- throw a perfect game
- pitch a perfect game
He threw a perfect game, retiring all twenty-seven batters in order.
Only a handful of pitchers have ever pitched a perfect game in the major leagues.
Her perfect game was broken up by a walk in the ninth inning.
nouncountablefigurative
Used loosely for any game or performance that goes perfectly, with no mistakes.
Grammar: Outside baseball, 'perfect game' is often figurative and can describe a flawless match or performance in another sport.
Patterns
- play a perfect game
- a perfect game of something
The team played a perfect game and never lost a point.
For the chess champion, it was a perfect game with no weak moves.
Word forms
| plural | perfect games |
|---|
Common combinations
- throw a perfect game
- The young pitcher threw a perfect game in front of a home crowd.
- pitch a perfect game
- No one expected him to pitch a perfect game that night.
- a perfect game bid
- His perfect game bid ended with a single in the seventh.
- the first perfect game
- Fans still talk about the first perfect game in the modern era.
- a perfect game in baseball
- A perfect game in baseball is rarer than a no-hitter.
Synonyms and how they differ
- no-hitter
- A no-hitter means no hits were allowed, but batters may still reach base on walks or errors, so it is easier than a perfect game.
Word family
- perfect adjective
- Flawless or without any mistakes.
- perfection noun
- The state of being perfect or faultless.
Commonly confused: perfect game in baseball or no-hitter?
perfect game in baseball vs no-hitter
A no-hitter allows no hits, but runners can reach base; a perfect game allows no batter to reach base at all.
Practice
Which sentence uses the term correctly?
Choose one answer.
A perfect game means no opposing batter reaches base, so option A fits. Option B describes a shutout, and options C and D still allow a batter to reach base, which rules out a perfect game.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “perfect game in baseball”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.