1.
swing and a miss (in baseball)
swinging the bat but failing to make contact with the ball
空振り三振に終わった。
He struck out swinging.
変化球に空振りした。
He swung and missed at the breaking ball.
バッターが大きく空振りした。
The batter took a big swing and missed.
2.
fruitless effort; wasted attempt
an action that fails to achieve its intended result
計画が空振りに終わった。
The plan ended up being a wasted effort.
営業が空振りばかりだ。
My sales calls keep coming up empty.
取材が空振りに終わった。
The interview/investigation turned up nothing.
BASEBALL TERM:
空振り combines 空 (empty) + 振り (swinging). Originally baseball terminology that has extended to figurative use.
BASEBALL CONTEXT:
- 空振りストライク - swinging strike
- 空振り三振 - strikeout swinging
- 大きく空振り - big swing and miss
FIGURATIVE USE:
The term is commonly used figuratively to mean any action that fails to achieve results:
- 空振りに終わる - to end up fruitless
- 空振りばかり - nothing but failed attempts
RELATED TERMS:
- 三振 - strikeout
- 見逃し - called strike (not swinging)
- 凡打 - weak hit/ground out