Changeup

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of slower baseball pitch designed to deceive the batter by changing the ball's speed ; a shift or switch from one condition, position, or state to another
2. A slower thrown pitch in baseball used to confuse the hitter ; an alteration or modification in approach, method, or situation
3. A baseball pitch that appears fast but arrives slower to mislead opponents ; a change in circumstance or behavior from the usual state

Etymology: The pitch that looks like a fastball and arrives far slower got its name from a verb phrase. To "change up" in baseball means to alter your speed or style of pitching, and the noun was formed from that phrase by a process called deverbal formation, in which a noun is created from a verb. The "change" in the name points to the whole idea: the pitcher changes the pace of the delivery while keeping the arm motion the same, so the batter is fooled by timing rather than by movement. The word appears in two forms, "changeup" as one word and "change-up" with a hyphen, and both are standard. Its history is plain: the phrase came first as a verb, and the noun grew out of it, so the name describes what the pitcher does rather than the ball itself.

Synonyms: pitch, slowball, deception, trick pitch, off-speed pitch

Antonyms: fastball, strike, swing, direct pitch, hard throw