US /ˈɪnɪŋ/ UK /ˈɪnɪŋ/
noun Freq #19686

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    a turn or period of activity, especially a renewed opportunity to speak or act

    Mary Jane took another inning and tried once more to explain her position.

  2. 2
    noun

    baseball: one of the divisions of a game in which each team has a turn at bat

    The home team scored three runs in the seventh inning.

  3. 3
    noun

    a player's or team's turn at the table in billiards or a similar game

    Her inning ended when the cue ball dropped into a pocket.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 noun · a turn or period of... turnspell
2 noun · baseball: one of the... frame
3 noun · a player's or team's turn... turn
Word family
Derived forms ninth-inning
Related forms inningsbatting

Etymology

Back-formed from innings after speakers interpreted its final -s as a plural ending. The sporting noun later developed the figurative sense of a person's turn or period of activity, which is the sense used in Huckleberry Finn.

Topics

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