Library / English Dictionary

LEAGUE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

An association of sports teams that organizes matches for its members

Synonyms:

conference; league

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("league" is a kind of...):

association (a formal organization of people or groups of people)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "league"):

big league; major league; majors (the most important league in any sport (especially baseball))

bush league; minor league; minors (a league of teams that do not belong to a major league (especially baseball))

baseball league (a league of baseball teams)

basketball league (a league of basketball teams)

bowling league (a league of bowling teams)

football league (a league of football teams)

hockey league (a league of hockey teams)

Ivy League (a league of universities and colleges in the northeastern United States that have a reputation for scholastic achievement and social prestige)

class; division (a league ranked by quality)

Derivation:

league (unite to form a league)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An association of states or organizations or individuals for common action

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("league" is a kind of...):

union (a political unit formed from previously independent people or organizations)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "league"):

Five Nations; Iroquois League; League of Iroquois; Six Nations (a league of Iroquois tribes including originally the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca (the Five Nations); after 1722 they were joined by the Tuscarora (the Six Nations))

Derivation:

league (unite to form a league)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An obsolete unit of distance of variable length (usually 3 miles)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Hypernyms ("league" is a kind of...):

linear measure; linear unit (a unit of measurement of length)

Meronyms (parts of "league"):

international mile; land mile; mi; mile; stat mi; statute mile (a unit of length equal to 1,760 yards or 5,280 feet; exactly 1609.344 meters)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Unite to form a league

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "league" is one way to...):

unify; unite (act in concert or unite in a common purpose or belief)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Derivation:

league (an association of sports teams that organizes matches for its members)

league (an association of states or organizations or individuals for common action)

Credits

 Context examples: 

To come among us with professions of openness and simplicity; and such a league in secret to judge us all!

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

But no one found the words thoughtless or untrue, for Beth still seemed among them, a peaceful presence, invisible, but dearer than ever, since death could not break the household league that love made dissoluble.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Presuming that it is an appointment, continued the Inspector, it is of course a conceivable theory that this William Kirwan—though he had the reputation of being an honest man, may have been in league with the thief.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The grandmother lived out in the wood, half a league from the village, and just as Little Red-Cap entered the wood, a wolf met her.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

The field of ice is almost a league in width, but I spent nearly two hours in crossing it.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

It was about ninety leagues distant, and our voyage lasted four days and a half.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Therefore, he must have been in close league with one of the servants.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Oh, my dear, I see that your eyes are opened, and that to you the lightning flash show all the leagues, for Mrs. Harker began to clap her hands and her eyes sparkled.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

“And so say I,” cried the Scottish earl; “for they do not know that there is any enemy within thirty long leagues of them.”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

From that night nothing has been seen of the three murderers by the police, and it is surmised at Scotland Yard that they were among the passengers of the ill-fated steamer Norah Creina, which was lost some years ago with all hands upon the Portuguese coast, some leagues to the north of Oporto.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)