little leaguen.adj.
/ˈlɪtl liːɡ/, U.S. /ˈlɪd(ə)l ˌliɡ/ Originally and chiefly U.S.
A. n.
Sport. A minor, junior, or children's league; spec. (with capital initials) a baseball league for children aged from eight to twelve, founded in 1939, which uses a smaller field than that of the standard game, (also) the form of baseball played in this league. Also in extended use: something relatively minor or insignificant.Now a proprietary name in the United States.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > [noun] > league
big league1882
minor league1885
little league1886
major league1888
major1911
Babe Ruth1953
1886 Atlanta (Georgia) Constit. 11 Aug. 8/4 The idea..of inaugurating a little league from the three cities for the autumn season will be indorsed by all the lovers of the manly sport [sc. baseball] in Atlanta, Savannah and Charleston.
1893 Brooklyn Citizen Almanac 129/1 The Brooklyns won the championship of the little League, thus winning their spurs and gaining the recognition of the baseball world.
1893 Outing Sept. 454/2 Another league was organized among younger [football] players than those who formed the teams of the previous season, and was in consequence dubbed the ‘Little League’.
1921 Collier's 12 Mar. 11/2 When he began to pitch so well in the litte league, Sinister Dick Kinsella of the Giants traveled all the way from New York to see Rube.
1945 F. Graham Brooklyn Dodgers v. 37 They have some little league around there and maybe I'll see somebody I like.
1949 Sat. Evening Post (Philadelphia) 14 May 27/1 Since the war, Little Leagues have been multiplying like amoebae.
1960 P. Goodman Growing up Absurd v. 117 The Little League, the baseball teams of subteenagers sponsored and underwritten by various business firms.
1978 Month Jan. 22/1 On a per capita basis China is in the ‘little league’.
1982 R. Angell Late Innings xvi. 409 Young ballplayers who start in the Little Leagues at the age of eight may graduate to the Babe Ruth League at the age of thirteen.
2000 B. McKibben Long Distance iii. 35 One of the few remnants of the period are the ‘Bill Koch leagues’, the Little Leagues of Nordic skiing.
2013 R. Humphries Little League to Major Leagues i. 7 The newly mandated metal bats..have lowered the boom on hitters from Little League to the college game.
B. adj.
1. Sport. attributive. Usually with capital initials. Of, belonging to, or characteristic of the Little League or a little league.In quot. 1960 passing into sense B. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > [adjective] > league
big league1881
bush league1906
major league1906
little league1939
1939 Williamsport (Pa.) Sun 7 June 17/2 Lundy staged two big innings to defeat Dairy in the ‘Little League’ opener last evening.
1949 Sat. Evening Post (Philadelphia) 14 May 27/2 The original Little League field in Williamsport..is a miniature big-league ball park.
1960 Road & Track Jan. 66/1 Because you rallied by the clock for only 30 miles or so, this was little-league stuff, like a Sunday afternoon event, and most of the scores were pretty low and pretty close.
1974 S. Terkel Working iv. 172 He is active in the Little League activities of the trailer community.
1985 N. McIntosh Managing Little League Baseball Introd. p. xiv Not only does the new/father coach have to accept a quick-study assignment in managing a Little League team, but [etc.].
2000 S. L. Nichols & T. L. Good in T. L. Good Amer. Educ. (Nat. Soc. for Study of Educ.) i. 45 Americans believe children should have a wide variety of experience (e.g., participation in little league sports and theater groups).
2. In extended use: relatively minor or insignificant.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] > of little importance or trivial
eathlyc890
lighteOE
littleOE
small?c1225
singlec1449
easy1474
triflous1509
naughty1526
slender1530
slight1548
shrimpish1549
slipper1567
truanta1572
toyous1581
trivious1583
mean1585
silly1587
nicea1594
puny?1594
puisne1598
pusill1599
whindling1601
sapless1602
non-significant1603
poor1603
unsignificant1603
flea-bite1605
perishing1605
lank1607
weightless1610
fonda1616
penny farthing1615
triviala1616
unweighty1621
transitory1637
twattling1651
inconsiderate1655
unserious1655
nugal1656
small drink1656
slighty1662
minute1668
paddling1679
snitling1682
retail1697
Lilliputian1726
vain1731
rattletrap1760
peppercornish1762
peppercorn1791
underling1804
venial1806
lightweight1809
floccinaucical1826
small-bore1833
minified1837
trantlum1838
piffling1848
tea-tabular1855
potty1860
whipping-snapping1861
tea-gardeny1862
quiddling1863
twaddling1863
fidgeting1865
penny ante1865
feather-weighted1870
jerkwater1877
midget1879
mimsy1880
shirttail1881
two-by-four1885
footle1894
skittery1905
footery1929
Mickey Mouse1931
chickenshit1934
minoritized1945
marginal1952
marginalized1961
tea-party1961
little league1962
marginalizing1977
minnowy1991
1962 T. Fielding Fielding's Trav. Guide Europe 1962–63 1066 The 250-year-old Palace, second in line, is Little League compared to Park Avenue's Yankee Stadium ranking.
1994 News Jrnl. (Wilmington, Delaware) 25 Aug. c3 (heading) Saudis oust Taiwan from Little League international bracket.
2007 J. Kargman Momzillas li. 255 The tiny Lacoste shirt I'd brought was very Little League in comparison.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1886