strikeout

A "strikeout" is most often a baseball term. It means a batter is out after getting three strikes in one turn at bat. Outside baseball, it can also refer to text that has been crossed out in writing or editing. In that sense, it shows that a word or line has been removed, even if you can still see it.

The term "strikeout" is used first and most clearly in baseball. It describes the result when a batter gets three strikes in a single turn at bat and is called out. This can happen because the batter swings and misses, or because they do not swing at a pitch that the umpire judges to be in the strike zone. For example: "The pitcher ended the inning with a strikeout."

Outside sports, "strikeout" can also refer to crossed-out writing, especially in editing, proofreading, or digital text. If a word, sentence, or number has a line through it to show it should be removed, that mark or that text can be called a strikeout. For example, an editor might leave a strikeout in a draft so the writer can still see what was deleted.

People sometimes confuse this noun with the verb phrase "strike out," which can mean to fail or to remove something. That idea is related, but it is not the main meaning of "strikeout" as a standalone noun. In most cases, if you see "strikeout," it will mean either the baseball result or text marked for deletion.