ballpark

[bawl-pahrk] /ˈbɔlˌpɑrk/
noun
1.
a tract of land where ball games, especially baseball, are played.
2.
a baseball stadium.
adjective
3.
Informal. being an approximation, based on an educated guess:
Give me a ballpark figure on our total expenses for next year.
Idioms
4.
in the ballpark, Informal. within reasonable, acceptable, or expected limits:
The price may go up another $10, but that's still in the ballpark.
Also, ball park.
Origin
1895-1900, Americanism; ball1 + park
Examples from the web for ballpark
  • For an inside look at the ballpark, take a stadium tour.
  • Even now, prices are in the same ballpark as conventional construction.
  • ballpark calculations are a powerful way of getting to grips with a problem.
  • She left the ballpark with a concussion and a broken jaw.
  • The result was in the ballpark of the modern value, but what a huge ballpark it was.
  • These are ballpark guesses, plucked freshly from my posterior.
  • The repair in question was not quite within the original planned scope, but it wasn't out of the ballpark, either.
  • As it is, you're not even in the same ballpark, not nearly playing the same game as the rest of us.
  • Going to the ballpark, visiting friends and playing bingo are simple diversions for many of us.
  • They also described their concepts for the ballpark project and explained how they would approach it.
British Dictionary definitions for ballpark

ballpark

/ˈbɔːlˌpɑːk/
noun
1.
(US & Canadian) a stadium used for baseball games
2.
(informal)
  1. approximate range: in the right ballpark
  2. (as modifier): a ballpark figure
3.
(informal) a situation; state of affairs: it's a whole new ballpark for him
Word Origin and History for ballpark
n.

"baseball stadium," 1899, from (base)ball + park (n.). Figurative sense of "acceptable range of approximation" first recorded 1954, originally in the jargon of atomic weapons scientists, perhaps originally referring to area within which a missile was expected to return to earth; the reference is to broad but reasonably predictable dimensions.

The result, according to the author's estimate, is a stockpile equivalent to one billion tons of TNT. Assuming this estimate is "in the ball park," clearly there is valid reason for urging candor on the part of our government. [Ralph E. Lapp, "Atomic Candor," in "Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists," October 1954]

Slang definitions & phrases for ballpark

ballpark

noun

Claimed or designated special territory; turf: Aren't you a little out of your ballpark here?/ I've played mostly your game. But now we're in my park (1963+)

Related Terms

all over the map, in the ballpark