Outswingers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Bats that direct the ball to swing outward away from the batter after delivery; cricket deliveries that move away from a right-handed batsman; bowlers who use wrist or finger action to make the ball curve away from the batsman
2. Deliveries in cricket that cause the ball to deviate away from the batsman after pitching; bowlers specializing in curving the ball outward; batsmen confronted with balls that move away from their stance
3. A type of cricket delivery where the ball swings away from the batsman; bowlers skilled in producing this outward movement; instances where the ball deviates to the outside edge of the batsman’s bat

Etymology: "Outswingers" is the plural of "outswinger," a noun for a cricket ball that swings away from the batsman, or for a bowler who delivers such balls. The term is formed simply from "outswing," itself built from "out" and "swing," with the agent suffix "-er" added at the end. Each element is native English: "out" descends from Old English "ūt," and "swing" from the Old English verb "swingan." The suffix "-er" has a longer ancestry than the rest of the word. It passed through Old English and Middle English and traces back to Latin "-ārius," which Old French took up as "-ier" before it reached English. That is why the ending works so readily with ordinary native roots, as it does here, and it is the same ending found in words like "bowler" and "fielder."

Synonyms: outside swingers, curveballs