baseball
English meaning: Baseball
Definition
A sport common in North America, the Caribbean, and Japan, in which the object is to strike a ball so that one of a nine-person team can run counter-clockwise among four bases, resulting in the scoring of a run. The team with the most runs after termination of play, usually nine innings, wins.
Example
“The kids played baseball in the park until it got dark.”
Another example: “He caught the foul baseball bare-handed in the front row.”
Usage — When, Where & How
The popular bat-and-ball team sport, especially in the US, Caribbean and Japan ('play baseball', 'a baseball game'). Everyday register; the term also names the ball itself. Many American idioms derive from it ('out of left field', 'ballpark figure').
Etymology & Origin
English — Origin & History
A 19th-century American compound of 'base' + 'ball', from the bases runners must touch.
Synonyms
- ball game
- baseball game
Related Words
- pitcher
- softball
- baseman
- catcher
- shortstop
- fielder
- ballpark
- sox
- cubs
- reds
Common Collocations
- play baseball
- baseball game
- baseball player
- baseball bat
- major league baseball
Word Forms
baseball (n); baseballs
Word Tools
Literary Heritage
“To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”
/To thine own self be true/
“Be honest with yourself — and as naturally as night follows day, you will be unable to be false to others.”
“I'm nobody! Who are you? Are you nobody, too?”
/I'm nobody! Who are you?/
“I am nobody — and that quiet anonymity is more honest than the noise of public fame.”
Images
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Language information
- Language
- English
- English
- Script
- Latin
- Family
- Indo-European
- Speakers
- 1.5B