Rate this phrase:0.0 / 0 votes

play hardball

To use every means possible to achieve a goal, especially in disregarding the harm caused.

Etymology:

  • From the American sport of baseball; the hardball is the heavier and harder type of the two types of throwing ball used when playing that sport.
2 Views
“

He was more than willing to extend the terms of the loan, but his boss decided to play hardball and demanded a balloon payment.

Collection   Edit    

Submitted on September 01, 2009

Additional definitions for 'play hardball':

play hardballTo act rough and ruthless, especially in politics or business.
See them all »

Translation

Find a translation for the play hardball phrase in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to play hardball

play into someone's handsplay hookyplay first fiddleplay in Peoriaplay it straightplay by earPlay Cat and Mouseplay it coolplay both sides against the middlePlay Fast and Looseplay dumbplay by earplay fast and looseplay for time

How to pronounce this phrase?

Discuss this play hardball phrase with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this play hardball definition to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "play hardball." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Nov. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/play-hardball_6141>.

    Powered by CITE.ME Cite.Me

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest human-edited phrases collection on the web!

    Quiz

    Are you a phrases master?

    »
    To be honest, I'm barely ___________ even.
    A making
    B taking
    C turning
    D breaking

    Browse Phrases.com

    #ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ