How to Use hardball in a Sentence

hardball

noun

• That’s in the midst of their current run of non-stop hardball.
  — Paul Daugherty, The Enquirer, 27 May 2021
• This isn't the first time Google has played hardball on this issue.
  — Timothy B. Lee, Ars Technica, 25 Sep. 2019
• Go to a Reds hardball game, see a softball game break out.
  — Paul Daugherty, The Enquirer, 2 June 2021
• John Nimick, a hardball pro in the 1980s, marvels at how the Egyptians have changed squash.
  — New York Times, 4 May 2022
• Episode 8—Frank goes camping and Claire plays hardball.
  — The Editors, The Atlantic, 2 June 2017
• But the Redskins may just be playing hardball with Williams.
  — BostonGlobe.com, 2 Nov. 2019
• His son, Travis, doesn’t pitch but hits the hardball for the Milwaukee Brewers.
  — Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati.com, 5 Sep. 2017
• This is not sweetness and light; there’s plenty of hardball.
  — Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review, 24 Jan. 2020
• In all of these instances, the committee faces a stark choice: Play hardball or give up.
  — Elie Honig, CNN, 31 Jan. 2022
• And, in a real hardball move, Democrats could cite the time constraints as reason not to take up any GOP bills.
  — Laura Vozzella, Washington Post, 21 Nov. 2020
• None of those Hub hardball dustups could have prepared him for what just happened across the pond.
  — BostonGlobe.com, 21 Apr. 2021
• The rest of the locker room would take notice if management plays hardball with him.
  — Andy Benoit, SI.com, 13 June 2018
• The entire hardball universe figured Eovaldi was a lock to get the ball in the opener.
  — BostonGlobe.com, 16 Oct. 2021
• The bottom of the third inning saw the Indians playing hardball when Bryce Burch scored the team's second run.
  — Jacob McAdams, Houston Chronicle, 26 Mar. 2018
• After three rounds of Brexit talks marked by hardball headlines and snail’s-pace progress, the prospect of ‘no deal’ in March 2019 feels all too real.
  — Simon Kennedy, Bloomberg.com, 17 Sep. 2017
• The Aves, coached by Pete Muehlenkamp, combined with the Sycamore boys a capella choir on a harmonic hardball video.
  — Scott Springer, Cincinnati.com, 26 Mar. 2018
• But the prime minister may be playing hardball as well.
  — Laura King, latimes.com, 9 July 2018
• Good hardballs cost $5 apiece these days, which is just outrageous.
  — Chris Erskine, latimes.com, 11 May 2018
• Noted hardball sages across the land nodded and agreed that the Sox had finally turned their season around.
  — Dan Shaughnessy, BostonGlobe.com, 4 Aug. 2019
• Between Quinn's public admission and the lack of a new deal in place, might the Lions be playing hardball with Stafford?
  — Carlos Monarrez, Detroit Free Press, 7 Aug. 2017
• Duffy said, citing the campaign’s charges of sexism as a sign that Blackburn intends to play hardball.
  — Joey Garrison, USA TODAY, 13 Feb. 2018
• If the parks district is going to sell its sports fields, Happy Valley is going to play hardball.
  — Molly Harbarger, OregonLive.com, 22 May 2017
• Kasich said, and should instead play hardball with them more often.
  — Jonathan Vanian, Fortune, 25 Sep. 2017
• Claire decides to play hardball with China, and agrees to rescue the crew on the Russian vessel only if China bends on the trade deal.
  — Ethan Renner, baltimoresun.com, 2 June 2017
• Teachers have employed hardball tactics in the past to force districts to settle.
  — Kathy Boccella, Philly.com, 5 Sep. 2017
• Because, heaven forbid, the country’s top lawyer be thrown a hardball.
  — Maria Kari, Teen Vogue, 11 Oct. 2017
• Hearst, which owns 34 stations around the country, hasn't shied away from playing hardball in retransmission talks in the past.
  — Chris Foran, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 31 Dec. 2019
• Is this a hardball rent negotiation tactic on the part of 950 Third?
  — Curbed, 17 Mar. 2022
• Kohlrabi, for example, taste best when baseball size, as in hardball, not softball.
  — Jeff Lowenfels, Anchorage Daily News, 6 July 2023
• Meta played hardball, not only banning news links from being shared across Facebook but also stopping users from posting links to non-news sites such as official government health pages—during the pandemic.
  — Nicole Kobie, WIRED, 11 Sep. 2023

Last Updated: 15 Nov 2024