seventh-inning stretchn.
/ˌsɛvnθɪnɪŋ ˈstrɛtʃ/, U.S. /ˌsɛvənθˌɪnɪŋ ˈstrɛtʃ/ Chiefly North American.
1. Baseball. A short interval following the first half of the seventh inning, during which the spectators customarily stand to stretch and (more recently) join in a song.Standing up and stretching in the seventh inning was once said to bring good luck to the team that was about to bat, and was customary for the hometown fans at many ballparks.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > match or competition > [noun] > game or definite spell of play > stage in game
time out1896
restart1897
seventh-inning stretch1903
match point1921
quick death1938
turnaround1959
1903 Oregon Daily Jrnl. 30 June 3/6 Mac's adoption of a Journal suggestion regarding a seventh inning stretch, while not original with him, is nevertheless, very good.
1951 Armed Forces Talk 9 Mar. 11/2 (caption) This Snack-Mobile..stands by to serve hot dogs and soft drinks to the fans during the seventh inning stretch at a baseball game in Germany.
2009 Lebanon (Pa.) Daily News (Nexis) 17 May At the seventh-inning stretch the usher who took my wife, daughter and me to our seats jumped atop the home-team dugout and with arms waving led us in a chorus of ‘Take Me Out to the Ballgame.’
2. colloquial. In extended use. A short pause, recess, or diversion; esp. a break to stand up and stretch the legs after a period of sitting.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > [noun] > a period of
leisurec1449
non-terminus1573
Sabbatism1582
non-term1607
recess1620
playtime1631
by-hour1639
vacancy1654
relache1780
lounge1806
spellc1845
pink-eye1901
seventh-inning stretch1915
standoff1918
timeout1931
the world > action or operation > ceasing > temporary cessation of activity or operation > [noun] > a temporary cessation of activity or operation
pause1440
trip1584
interpause1595
wem1599
stand1602
vacation1617
interspiration1623
intercisiona1631
interregnum1659
lapse1838
shutdown1857
break1878
slip1898
seventh-inning stretch1915
standoff1918
1915 Sioux City (Iowa) Sunday Jrnl. 1 Aug. 8/3 It is well..for the editorial page now and then to get away from the war..and the destiny of nations and by way of a seventh-inning stretch, as it were, to inquire as to the whereabouts of the old fashioned this or that or to congratulate the Red Sox on their wonderful victory over the Athletics.
1961 Use & Admin. National Forests: Hearing before Subcomm. on Forests of Comm. Agric. (U.S. House of Representatives, 87th Congr., 1st Sess.) 170 A suggestion has been made that we take about a 5- to 7-minute recess. So we will take a seventh inning stretch at this time.
2007 NPR: Weekend Edition (transcript of radio programme) (Nexis) 21 Oct. President Hu Jintao was getting hoarse about 50 pages into his 64-page speech... I decided to take a seventh inning stretch. I left my tape recorder running and joined my colleagues on the second floor balcony.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2021; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1903