Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A fly ball hit for fielding practice by a player who tosses the ball up and hits it on its way down with a long, thin, light bat.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun baseball A fielding practice drill where a person hits fly balls intended to be caught.
  • noun baseball, informal A fungo bat.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Origin unknown.]

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Examples

  • '' Then I got about 30 swings with the regular bat and it felt pretty much the same as swinging the fungo, which is obviously a good sign. '', who had surgery to repair a tendon in his right middle finger Aug. 14, visited his doctor in Arizona on Thursday and remains on schedule to return by late September.

    Tsn.ca Top Stories RSS 2008

  • They were hitting fungo balls out to him and he would miss them on purpose.

    A Really Quick Draw on Pop Culture Bruce Bennett 2011

  • You can take a million ground balls off fungo bats during infield practice -- or a million swings off sore-armed coaches during batting practice -- but nothing can replicate game-speed.

    What's up with the awful defense? 2011

  • In contrast to fungo it was widely familiar in Ruvu-speaking societies and may thus reflect its proto-Ruvu-era usage as medicine for children.

    Societies, Religion, and History: Central East Tanzanians and the World They Created, c. 200 BCE to 1800 CE 2008

  • Still decked out in street shoes and a three-piece suit, Diz shed his jacket, grabbed a fungo bat, and—with scores of photographers recording every antic and the Tigers pretending to be amused—sprayed line drives around Navin Field.

    Satch, Dizzy & Rapid Robert Timothy M. Gay 2010

  • Tracy spoke to reporters for four minutes, and as the crowd dispersed, he smacked base of the bench with a fungo bat and bit his lower lip.

    Rockies team president Keli McGregor dead at 48 2010

  • Still decked out in street shoes and a three-piece suit, Diz shed his jacket, grabbed a fungo bat, and—with scores of photographers recording every antic and the Tigers pretending to be amused—sprayed line drives around Navin Field.

    Satch, Dizzy & Rapid Robert Timothy M. Gay 2010

  • Nyanja fungo "protective medicine for hunters." back

    Societies, Religion, and History: Central East Tanzanians and the World They Created, c. 200 BCE to 1800 CE 2008

  • Still decked out in street shoes and a three-piece suit, Diz shed his jacket, grabbed a fungo bat, and—with scores of photographers recording every antic and the Tigers pretending to be amused—sprayed line drives around Navin Field.

    Satch, Dizzy & Rapid Robert Timothy M. Gay 2010

  • Still decked out in street shoes and a three-piece suit, Diz shed his jacket, grabbed a fungo bat, and—with scores of photographers recording every antic and the Tigers pretending to be amused—sprayed line drives around Navin Field.

    Satch, Dizzy & Rapid Robert Timothy M. Gay 2010

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