| 释义 |
▪ I. lowball, n. (and a.)|ˈləʊbɔːl|
Also low-ball and as two words.
[f. low a. + ball n.1]
1. Baseball. A ball pitched so as to pass over the plate below the level of the batter's knees. Also transf. in other sports. Freq. attrib. or as adj.
1867N.Y. Herald 3 July 8/3 Pabor knocked a low ball pretty ‘warm’ between short and second. 1911Z. Grey Young Pitcher vi. 59 Drive that fellow away from the plate...give this one a low ball...now straight over the pan. 1940L. H. Fischer How to play Winning Softball ii. 22 Low balls should be aimed at the catcher's knee. 1955P. Richards Mod. Baseball Strategy iii. 41 It becomes a matter of whether the pitcher is a better low-ball pitcher than the hitter is a low-ball batter. 1964L. Watts Fine Art Baseball ii. 119 Generally speaking, low-ball pitching is the most effective. 1979Washington Post 11 Apr. d5/4 Lowball hitters such as Lee Trevino. 1990DiMaggio &Gilbert Real Grass, Real Heroes xii. 161 Mickey could handle low-ball pitchers like Higbe and Casey and still throw out base runners.
2. fig. (in Comm.). The quotation of a deceptively or unrealistically low price or estimate, usu. in order to ensure a contract, etc.; also, the price so quoted or offered. Also attrib. or as adj. See also *lowball v.
1961Time 24 Mar. 80/2 The lowball: the salesman quotes a rock-bottom price for the new car to win the customer, later hikes up the price. 1967M. E. Dowd How to save Money iv. 54 ‘Lowball’ offers are aimed at shoppers with no car to trade in. Here the ‘lowball’ cash price may be far below other offers. 1977Rolling Stone 16 June 13/2 ‘Lowball’ or ‘cutthroat’ retail outlets..sell major new releases at slightly above, or sometimes actually below, cost. 1983Fortune 2 May 160/3 Even scarier is the ultimate low-ball: a $50 program. 1993Rep. on Business Feb. 36/3 Forsyth would launch a formal offer to buy back all of its outstanding shares at a low-ball price of $3 apiece.
▪ II. lowball, v. Comm. (chiefly U.S.).|ˈləʊbɔːl|
[f. *lowball n. 2.]
trans. a. To give a low estimate of (a cost or price) to a potential customer, esp. with the intention of raising it after a deal has been agreed; more generally, to underestimate or understate (an amount). Also absol. b. To deceive (a customer) by offering an unrealistically low price, estimate, etc.
1978Business Week 3 July 23/3 You can't lowball a price and expect to buy anything. 1983in Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dict. s.v., To give (a customer) a deceptively low price or cost estimate. 1987Forbes (N.Y.) 18 May 144/2 The managers back in Tokyo have been lowballing bids and accepting dangerously thin margins. 1988Crain's Chicago Business 11 Apr. 3/4 Anchor management lowballed on their estimates of increases in medical charges and health care utilization. 1991Connecticut May 93 Are you being lowballed by someone who hopes to make money on extras later?
So ˈlowballing vbl. n. and ppl. a.; ˈlowballer n.
1977Rolling Stone 16 June 13/5 Thus do the Jimmy's and Peaches of this world go on their lowballing ways, slowly but inevitably cutting into the rack jobbers' share of the market. 1978S. Brill Teamsters v. 198 ‘Lowballing’ is a procedure whereby one trucking company takes away business from another company..by underbidding that company for the work. Ibid. x. 198 Reputable department stores..use the low-ballers for deliveries. 1987Drug Topics 20 Apr. 13/1 Kirk R. Agthe..said the profession is in this current mess due to lowballing of prices and services. 1992Independent 16 Nov. 23/3 Desperation for work, particularly in the devastated commercial property market, has led to reports of the ‘lowballing’, or uneconomic tendering, that has supposedly become commonplace in auditing. |