shortstop

short +‎ stop

shortstop (plural shortstops)

1. (baseball) The infield defensive player that stands between the second baseman and the third baseman.

   The shortstop ranged deep into the hole to make the stop.

2. (figuratively) A nimble defender.

   I'll play shortstop when we make our proposal.

3. (gambling) A player who is short of money.
   • 1981, Sam Grafstein, Dice Doctor:

     The shortstops and desperados were not permitted to play in this marker crap game.

• catcher
• pitcher
• first baseman
• second baseman
• third baseman
• infielder
• outfielder

shortstop (third-person singular simple present shortstops, present participle shortstopping, simple past and past participle shortstopped)

1. Alternative form of short-stop (to play shortstop).
   • 2012, Robert L. Tiemann, ‎Mark Rucker, ‎Joseph M. Overfield, Nineteenth Century Stars, page 20:

     He captained the Tecumsehs of London, Ontario, (International Association) in 1878; shortstopped for Cincinnati in 1879; stayed out of baseball in 1880; and finished as shortstop for Boston (NL) in 1881.

   • 2017, Brandon Isleib, Playing for a Winner, page 77:

     Managed and shortstopped by George Wright and full of league stalwarts—Joe Start, Paul Hines, and Jim O'rourke—they also had 1-year-old phenom Monte Ward as primary moundsman (teams now generally used multiple pitchers).

   • 2017, Susan Forest, ‎Lucas K. Law, ‎Juliet Marillier, The Sum of Us: Tales of the Bonded and Bound:

     He shortstopped for a few years for the Houston Astros when they won the World Series twice in a row.

2. Alternative form of short-stop (to cause to stop short).
   • 1978, Carol D. Jori, “Container Revolution in Bremerhaven”, in Sealift, page 18:

     They will be shortstopped in the port for lease by the government, then continue their journey by military train.

   • 2006, Oskar Nuyken, Neodymium Based Ziegler Catalysts - Fundamental Chemistry, page 64:

     In the polymerization of BD by Ti-, Co- and Ni-based catalyst systems the polymerization has to be shortstopped at a specific monomer conversion in order to avoid the formation of gel.

   • 2008, Gary Linderer, Phantom Warriors, page 148:

     Although he successfully shortstopped the assault on his two teammates, the enemy soldiers now concentrated their fire directly on him.

• stop short

Borrowed from English shortstop.

• IPA^(key): /ʃɔʁt.stɔp/

shortstop m (plural shortstops)

1. (baseball) shortstop

• “shortstop”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Unadapted borrowing from English shortstop.

• IPA^(key): /ʃoɾtesˈtop/ [ʃoɾ.t̪esˈt̪op]
• Rhymes: -op

shortstop m (plural shortstops)

1. (baseball) shortstop

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.