bullpen

noun

bull·​pen ˈbu̇l-ˌpen 

 also  ˈbəl-

variants or less commonly bull pen

plural bullpens also bull pens

1

: a large cell where prisoners are detained until brought into court

Commonly called the "bullpen," the court lockup is behind the courtroom and is used as a holding area for prisoners …

—Bruce A. Scruton

2

a

: a place on a baseball field where pitchers warm up before they start pitching

In the bullpen, Goose Gossage is warming up.

—Tony Scherman

b

: the relief pitchers of a baseball team

After five innings Seattle led 14-2 and, with baseball's best bullpen waiting to protect the lead should starter Aaron Sele falter …

—Sports Illustrated

3

: an open work area not divided into offices

… an alternative to the traditional combination of private offices for the brass and bullpens for the workers.

—Carl Ruff

Examples of bullpen in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Instead, the Twins have three rookie starters struggling to pitch more than five innings and a bullpen that has been coughing up leads for weeks. —Nick Halter, Axios, 23 Sep. 2024

If the Yankees’ pursuit of a 28th title may be imperiled by a dodgy bullpen and miserable offensive showings at short and in left field, the odds favor New York securing one of the AL’s two postseason byes. —Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 22 Sep. 2024

Part of the healing process was apologizing to his bullpen mates. —Mike Digiovanna, Los Angeles Times, 22 Sep. 2024

The agreement will continue to make available WBD’s bullpen of linear cable channels available on Charter Spectrum’s channel lineup including TNT, CNN, Food Network, HGTV, TLC, Discovery, TBS, Adult Swim and Investigation Discovery. —Brad Adgate, Forbes, 19 Sep. 2024

Houston's bullpen was dominant in the 2022 postseason, then took a step back last year. —Michael Shapiro, Chron, 18 Sep. 2024

The Angels recalled left-hander Kenny Rosenberg to take Dana’s spot, but Rosenberg will go into the bullpen. —Jeff Fletcher, Orange County Register, 16 Sep. 2024

Kyle Freeland set the tone, Sam Hilliard provided the juice, and the bullpen closed the deal Sunday afternoon in one of the Rockies’ most impressive victories of the season. —Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post, 8 Sep. 2024

Before Harrison could defuse the threat, Randal Grichuk took him deep into the visitor’s bullpen for a two-run homer. —Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 3 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1809, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

bull pen

noun

1

: a large cell where prisoners are held until brought into court

2

a

: a place on a baseball field where relief pitchers warm up

b

: the relief pitchers of a team