noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A pitch thrown with the arm motion of a fastball, but which travels at a much slower velocity because it is released without the fingers adding power to the delivery.

   "The pitcher had a devastating change-up."

2. 2
   a baseball thrown with little velocity when the batter is expecting a fastball wordnet
3. 3
   An unexpected event. broadly

   "This RFQ is a real change-up."

Synonyms

All synonyms

bowlcastchange of pacechange-of-pacechange-of-pace ballchuck

Example

More examples

"The pitcher had a devastating change-up."

Etymology

Deverbal from change up.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.