ballpark

ball +‎ park

ballpark (plural ballparks)

1. (US) A field, stadium or park where ball, especially baseball, is played.
2. (US, figuratively) The general vicinity; somewhere close; a broad approximation.

   Let’s get in the ballpark, then worry about the fine details.

   • 1990, Paul Simon, “The Obvious Child”, The Rhythm of the Saints, Warner Bros.,

     Some people say a lie is just a lie / But I say the cross is in the ballpark / Why deny the obvious, child?

• hit one out of the ballpark
• ballpark estimate
• ballpark figure

ballpark (not comparable)

1. Approximate; close; on the right order of magnitude.
   • 1986, Darrell J. Steffensmeier, The Fence: In the Shadow of Two Worlds‎, →ISBN, page 104:

     These are ballpark prices: you could give or take a little either way.

• ballpark figure, ballpark estimate

ballpark (third-person singular simple present ballparks, present participle ballparking, simple past and past participle ballparked)

1. To make a rough estimate of.

   If you don’t have the exact expense total, just ballpark it.

   • 8 August 2018, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky in AV Club, Jason Statham fighting a giant shark should be a lot more fun than The Meg

     science has deduced the following: that megalodon was the biggest and baddest of all sharks and, less cinematically, that it had a lower intestine not unlike that of some modern shark species. Scientists estimate its length at around 40 to 50 feet, Alten’s novel bumps it up to 65 feet, and the movie ballparks it at “75 to 90 feet.”