discrete opportunities to attempt something, as in “We need to fix these issues before we ship the next version or we won’t get another at-bat”; derives from the sport of baseball, in which players face the opposing team’s pitcher multiple times in a game; this term is used to evoke a sporting or competitive atmosphere, conjuring up the collegiality or informality often associated with sport-related analogies; for the Commonwealth citizen this jargon may have rather different connotations, as a cricketer may have only one opportunity to bat in a match, although it may be of much longer duration than in baseball; related to bite of the apple