What is "bullpen"

bullpen \bull"pen`\ (b[.u]l"p[e^]n`), n. (Baseball)

1. an open area in a baseball stadium, off the playing field, where pitchers may warm up by throwing a number of trial pitches before playing.

2. [collective] the relief pitchers on a baseball team. Contrasted with starters.

also bull-pen, 1915, in the baseball sense, from bull (n.1) + pen (n.2); perhaps from earlier slang meaning "temporary holding cell for prisoners" (1809). Bullpen also was the name of a baseball-like game played in U.S. late 19c.

n. 1 An enclosed area used to hold bulls. 2 (context baseball English) An enclosed area for pitchers to warm up in during a game. 3 (context baseball English) The relief pitchers of a team collectively. 4 ''(metaphorical)'' A figurative place for someone or something to get ready 5 An open seating arrangement where project teams can communicate openly with minimal effort.

1. n. a place on a baseball field where relief pitchers can warm up during a game

2. a large cell where prisoners (people awaiting trial or sentence or refugees or illegal immigrants) are confined together temporarily [syn: detention cell, detention centre]

In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm-up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if they have not yet played in a game, rather than in the dugout with the rest of the team. The starting pitcher also makes his final pregame warm-up throws in the bullpen. Managers can call coaches in the bullpen on an in-house telephone from the dugout to tell a certain pitcher to begin his warm-up tosses.

Each team generally has its own bullpen consisting of two pitching rubbers and plates at regulation distance from each other. In most Major League Baseball parks, the bullpens are situated out-of-play behind the outfield fence. There are currently four MLB parks with bullpens in playable foul territory: Wrigley Field, AT&T Park, O.co Coliseum and Tropicana Field.

A bullpen or bull pen may refer to:

• Literally, a pen or enclosure for bulls
• In baseball, the bullpen, an area for pitchers to warm up, also the location of relief pitchers.
• A fortified ridge at the Siege of Port Hudson
• Broadly, any group of people kept together or in reserve for a common goal, such as the staff of Marvel Comics' Bullpen Bulletins

Open areas holding large groups of people, such as:

• The bull pen or bull system, where Australian waterfront workers' under the Dog collar act were hired for the day.
• Temporary prison-like areas in the United States for miners arrested for trying to organize into unions.
• An open plan office layout
• The fan zone of Reliant Stadium
• A round pen with solid-walled sides for training horses
• A holding cell that contains a large number of prisoners
• A prison yard or open area where prisoners are held
• An open area in a prison camp
• A system of prostitution, credited to Jean O'Hara, where a single prostitute would work three rooms in rotation.