squeeze play

squeeze play

1. In baseball, a play in which the batter bunts to give a runner on third base a chance to reach home plate and score a run. Primarily heard in US. The botched squeeze play led to the batter and the runner being tagged out. No one was expecting a squeeze play when their star hitter went up to bat.
2. By extension, a situation in which a great deal of pressure is applied to someone or something in order to achieve a certain outcome or goal. With both houses of congress controlled by the opposing political party, the president is now facing a squeeze play regarding the federal budget. The mega corporation is using its vast resources and political influence to initiate a squeeze play against its competition.
See also: play, squeeze
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

squeeze play

A situation in which pressure exerted to obtain a concession or achieve a goal, as in Workers sometimes feel caught in a squeeze play between union and management. This expression, dating from about 1900, originated in baseball, where it refers to a prearranged play in which the runner on third base breaks for home plate on the pitch, and the batter bunts. [c. 1915]
See also: play, squeeze
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

squeeze play

n. a special play in baseball where there is a runner on third base and the batter bunts. (With an early start the runner may reach home plate.) They pulled off that squeeze play like the professionals they are.
See also: play, squeeze
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • dust off the batter
  • gopher ball
  • step up to the plate
  • the plate
  • triple-bagger
  • drunk
  • double-bagger
  • beanball
  • neighborhood play
  • bases loaded
References in periodicals archive
This is just a squeeze play for her to resign,' Lacanilao said in an interview on ANC's Headstart, Friday.
Sereno lawyer belittles 6 SC justices' testimonies
Operation Squeeze Play, which began on Sunday and was apparently winding down yesterday, was centred on western Baghdad's Abu Ghraib district and targeted militants suspected of attacking the US detention facility there and the road linking downtown to the international airport, the military said in a statement.
300 insurgents seized as Iraq carnage continues
With runners on first and third and less than two out, Bobby might fake the squeeze play to give the back runner a chance to steal second uncontested.
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* "Squeeze Play," based on a novel by Sandy Koufax biographer Jane Leavy;
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"We are determined to play with a high tempo, start high and squeeze play when Colchester have possession.
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Squeeze Play. Consolidation will thin the ranks of property/casualty insurers in the next five years.
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The Court's ruling and its probable aftermath will also tighten the squeeze play on the Constitution that the ReaganBush court packing has made possible.
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In accepting a lifetime yearly retainer of $20,000 (about half his Supreme Court salary) from the family foundation of embattled entrepreneur Louis Wolfson, Fortas was engaging in the same kind of squeeze play that had helped make Washington lawyers rich.
Dishonest Abe; how LBJ's favorite Supreme Court justice became the prototype of Washington's valueless lawyers
Call it a "lateral pass kitchen": this 12- by 14-foot addition with a 6- by 12-foot porch relieves pressure from an interior squeeze play. Cramped and dark, the original kitchen was buried at the back of a two-story tree-shaded house.
New porch and additions help unbury small, dark kitchen
America's squeeze play will probably devastate the Iranian economy.
Trump's bullying tactics with Iran could backfire
Two others I'd mention: Coming in toward the plate on a squeeze play, fielding the ball and flipping it with your glove, because you don't have time to take it out--and trying to stop a 115-mph line drive coming right back through the box.
Toughest defensive plays: players describe the most difficult plays to make at each position
Jordan Smith singled on a squeeze play, Bill O'Donnell and Kyle Stanley doubled, Tim Beaudette tripled, and Pajka homered.
Northbridge holds on in wild 7th
This issue is based on an earlier study, "Squeeze Play: How Parents and the Public Look at Higher Education Today," from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education and Public Agenda.
Is College Opportunity Slipping Away? Parents and the Public Voice Concerns about Higher Education Access and Affordability. Policy Alert
SQUEEZE PLAY: Cameron Diaz embraces co-star Leonardo DiCaprio at the bow of their long-awaited "Gangs of New York." Miramax threw a star-studded soiree Dec.
Miramax-imum overdrive. (Life)
Why do you move up in the batter's box on a squeeze play or sacrifice bunt?
Checking Your Ballplayers' IQ