homer

homer — noun

IPA/ˈhəʊmə(r)/
KK[hˈomɚ]IPA/ˈhəʊmər/
  • homersingular
  • homersplural

1. in baseball, a hit that lets the batter circle every base and reach home plate o

1.nounB2
Definition

in baseball, a hit that lets the batter circle every base and reach home plate on one swing, earning a run for the team; the everyday short word for home run.

Example

Takeshi hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning.

collocation: hit a [N-run] homer

The crowd at Dodger Stadium roared when Beatriz crushed a homer over the left-field wall.

collocation: crush / smash a homer

Common collocations
  • hit a homer
  • smash a homer
  • a two-run homer
  • a walk-off homer
  • a solo homer
Synonyms
  • home run

    the full term; preferred in formal writing and official statistics

  • dinger

    another informal baseball slang word, slightly more playful

  • round-tripper

    older sports-journalism slang, less common today

Grammar Patterns

hit a homer

for a homer

Usage Note

Informal substitute for 'home run'; appears mainly in spoken commentary, sports headlines, and casual fan talk rather than formal box scores.

Common Mistakes

He scored a homer in the football match.
He scored a homer in the baseball match.
the word belongs only to baseball, not football or other sports.

2. a small piece of paid work that a tradesperson, such as a plumber or hairdresser

2.nounC1
Definition

a small piece of paid work that a tradesperson, such as a plumber or hairdresser, carries out at someone's house on the side, usually for cash and kept off the books from both the boss and the tax office.

Example

Hugo asked the electrician to wire his garage as a quick homer over the weekend.

collocation: do / take on a homer

The plumber does a few homers in the evenings to top up his weekly wages.

scenario: side jobs on top of regular wages

Common collocations
  • do a homer
  • a quick homer
  • on a homer
  • cash for a homer
Synonyms
  • side job

    neutral general term; doesn't imply tax avoidance

  • moonlighting

    broader; covers any second job, not only at a customer's home

  • cash-in-hand job

    emphasises the unrecorded payment more than the location

Grammar Patterns

do a homer

on a homer

Usage Note

Subject is usually a skilled manual worker (electrician, plumber, painter, hairdresser); strongly implies the job is undeclared to the employer or tax authorities. Distinguish from sense 1 (baseball) by context — this sense is mainly British and Irish.

Common Mistakes

I worked from home today, so I did a homer.
I worked from home today.
'homer' here is not the same as working remotely; it means an unofficial side job at someone else's home.

homer — verb

IPA/ˈhəʊ.mər/
KK[hˈomɚ]IPA/ˈhoʊ.mɚ/

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words name the same baseball play — a hit that lets the batter circle every base on one swing — but they belong to different registers. 'Home run' is the neutral, official term used in box scores, league statistics, and formal reporting; a sportswriter will always reach for it first. 'Homer' is the everyday spoken short form used by fans, commentators, and headline writers, as in 'a walk-off homer in the ninth'. 'Dinger' is even more casual and slightly playful — common in clubhouse talk and modern fan culture. 'Round-tripper' is older journalistic slang that still appears in nostalgic writing but feels dated in conversation. So a stat sheet records a 'home run', a friend texts you about a 'homer', and an excited broadcaster might shout 'dinger!' as the ball clears the wall.

homer ↗home run ↗dingerround-tripper

Common collocations

Nouns

  • walk-off homer
  • two-run homer
  • solo homer
  • leadoff homer
  • grand-slam homer

Adverbs

  • barely homer
  • narrowly homer

Phrases

  • hit a homer
  • smash a homer
  • do a homer (UK)

Prepositions

  • homer against
  • homer off
  • homer to [field]

Etymology

English

The baseball sense of 'homer' is a short, friendly clipping of 'home run', first appearing in American sports writing in the early twentieth century once the long form had become standard at the ballpark. The verb form ('to homer') followed naturally from the noun. The British and Irish sense — a side job done at someone's home — developed independently in twentieth-century working-class slang, building straight from the everyday word 'home' plus the suffix '-er' to suggest 'a piece of home work', without any link to the baseball term.

First known use

1530

1530, in the meaning defined above Noun (2)