baseballn.
/ˈbeɪsbɔːl/, U.S. /ˈbeɪsˌbɔl/, /ˈbeɪsˌbɑl/ Sport.
1.
a. Any of various related games played with a ball and (usually) a bat, in which a player strikes the ball with the bat or the hand and attempts to run to one or more bases to score points. Cf. rounders at rounder n.2 2a. Now historical except in sense 1b.Such games were being played in North America under the name ‘baseball’ by the end of the 18th cent., and by the early 19th century were known by a number of different names: ‘baseball' (then typically written in open or hyphenated form) in New York and the Great Lakes region, ‘town ball’ (see town ball n. at town n. Compounds 1b) from Philadelphia southwards, and ‘round ball’ (roundball n. 2) in New England. A version of the game was formalized in New York City under the name ‘baseball’ (see sense 1b) during the 1840s, and by the 1860s had become the dominant form throughout the United States.Quot. 1760 is from a book first published in 1744, but no extant copies of any edition are known before 1760.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > games similar to baseball > [noun]
baseball1748
pat-ball1775
town ball1813
stickball1824
rounders1828
roundball1834
feeder1844
one-old-cat1856
softball1867
one-eyed cat1908
vigoroc1930
slow-pitch1934
fast-pitch1939
stoop ball1941
fastball1943
lob ball1949
whiffle-ball1954
Wiffle ball1955
T-ball1962
1748 Lady Hervey Let. 14 Nov. (1821) 139 Now, in the winter, in a large room, they divert themselves at base-ball, a play all who are, or have been, schoolboys, are well acquainted with.
1755 J. Kidgell Card I. ii. 9 The younger Part of the Family..retired to an interrupted Party at Base-Ball, (an infant Game, which as it advances in its Teens, improves into Fives, and in its State of Manhood, is called Tennis.)
1760 Little Pretty Pocket-bk. (ed. 10) sig. C4v Base-Ball. The Ball once struck off, Away flies the Boy To the next destin'd Post, And then Home with Joy.
1786 J. R. Smith Diary 22 Mar. (Princeton Univ. Library: MS. AM 12800) A fine day play baste ball in the campus but am beaten for I miss both catching and striking the Ball.
1791 Bylaw Preserv. Windows (Pittsfield, Mass.) 5 Sept. XVIII. A.10 in www.pittsfieldlibrary.org (O.E.D. Archive) No Person..shall be permitted to play at any Game called Wicket, Cricket, Baseball, Batball, Football, Cat, Fives or any other Game or Games with Balls within the Distance of Eighty Yards from said Meeting House.
1799 C. Cooke Battleridge I. i. 2 No more cricket, no more base-ball, they are sending me to Geneva.
a1817 J. Austen Northanger Abbey (1818) I. i. 7 It was not very wonderful that Catherine..should prefer cricket, base ball..to books. View more context for this quotation
1826 M. R. Mitford Our Village II. 72 Her longing eyes fixed on a game of baseball at the corner of the green.
1891 W. C. Connor England & Eng. in 18th Cent. I. ii. 20 Behind the grounds of Montagu House..lay Lamb's Conduit Fields (in summer time the resort of base-ball players).
1997 S. W. Pope Patriotic Games ii. 60 Children's games such as rounders, town ball, stoolball, one old cat, and base ball had been played in England and America since the eighteenth century.
b. Chiefly North American (originally U.S.). A ball game played by two teams of nine players on a field marked by four bases in a diamond-shaped pattern, in which the pitcher of the fielding team throws the ball to batters on the batting team, who must complete a circuit of the bases in order to score runs. Cf. softball n. 1a.In the earliest games, teams could consist of either eight or nine players.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > [noun]
ball play?c1225
ballc1300
goalball1834
baseball1845
1845 Brooklyn Eagle & Kings County Democrat 21 Oct. 2/3 A Great Match at Base Ball. This afternoon, at 2 o'clock, the New York Bass Ball Club play a match at ball with the Brooklyn Club at the Elysian Fields, Hoboken.
1865 Yale Lit. Mag. Nov. 82 As Base Ball is peculiarly our national game, we are extremely glad to see it exciting attention among our Students.
1899 K. Chopin Awakening xvi. 213 He has two lips and a square chin, and a little finger which he can't straighten from having played baseball too energetically in his youth.
1920 S. Lewis Main St. xxxix. 448 The next problem of the country ain't so much abolishing cigarettes as it is to..arrest these law-breakers that play baseball and go to the movies and all on the Lord's Day.
1933 A. G. Macdonell England, their England vii. 112 ‘Baseball is a kind of rounders, isn't it, sir?’ said cover-point sympathetically.
1945 S. Leacock Last Leaves ii. 45 The discovery by Einstein of this curvature of space was greeted by the physicists with the burst of applause that greets a winning home run at baseball.
1974 R. Burke Small World Millie McIvor 46 Baseball is the big interest in his life.
1987 S. Barr & J. Poppy Flame xxix. 229 Baseball in the minor leagues is so intimate and relaxed, played so much closer to you in its aged little ballparks than it is in the big city stadiums.
2007 Independent 24 May 27/1 The clatter of the much more common annual cicada..is as much a part of summer in the US as lemonade and baseball.
2. Chiefly North American (originally U.S.). The ball used in the game of baseball (sense 1b).
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > [noun] > equipment
willow1846
baseball1853
bat1856
baseball bat1858
base bag1863
baseball glove1884
apple1902
rabbit ball1907
joystick1908
1853 U.S. Rev. July 35 If base-balls and trap-bats would have passed current, we could have gone forth as millionaires.
1882 Cent. Mag. June 261/2 He was a poor, cheap sort of creature... A fellow with no more nature than a base-ball.
1943 National Geographic Mag. Dec. 664/1 Hailstones as large as baseballs have been photographed and measured.
1971 H. Seymour Baseball II. ii. v. 86 In order to let him know that I recognized his skill as a ball player despite the opprobrium attached to his name, I asked him to autograph a baseball.
2007 M. Stadler Psychol. Baseball (2008) iii. 82 Throwing a baseball with the force and the accuracy that the game requires, especially in pitching, is much more difficult than throwing darts.
Compounds
C1.
a. General attributive.
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1845 N.Y. Herald 6 Oct. 2/4 A Base Ball match between eight players of Brooklyn and eight of New York, was announced to take place in Brooklyn to-day, and also a shooting match... It is not believed, however, that either of the events will ‘come off’, in consequence of some mal-arrangement or misunderstanding among the several parties.
1848 By-laws & Rules Knickerbocker Base Ball Club 3 (heading) Rules of the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club.
1858 Spirit of Times 27 Nov. 494/1 Our Base Ball season has probably closed.
1860 F. Lillywhite Eng. Cricketers' Trip to Canada & U.S. 50 A game of base-ball was got up among the players of that game and a portion of the English party, and which took place on the base-ball ground.
1870 R. W. Emerson Society & Solitude 234 Amiable boys, who had never encountered any rougher play than a base-ball match.
1910 Pop. Mech. Apr. 561/1 Not only have the Japanese become good baseball players, but they have some good baseball writers.
1921 Rotarian July 5/2 They [sc. boys] really prefer to educate you with the latest baseball statistics.
1926 Yale Banner & Pot Pourri 269 (caption) Joe Wood baseball coach.
1942 W. Connolly in H. Graffis Esquire's First Sports Reader (1945) 83 He [sc. Joe DiMaggio] had no craving to be a baseball great when he was a boy.
1956 Changing Times June 12/1 The Baseball Almanac... The 1956 edition of an excellent, well-arranged compendium of baseball data.
1965 Baseball Digest May 25/2 (advt.) Collectors of Baseball Memorabilia. Enlarge your collection!
1988 J. Hunter & A. Keteyian Catfish ii. 21 Recently he has worked as a volunteer baseball coach.
1997 M. Shannon (title) Tales from the dugout: the greatest true baseball stories ever told.
2008 R. F. Bachin in E. J. Gorn Sports in Chicago v. 84 Baseball writers and reformers pointed out that individual skill and success were useful only when used to promote the advancement of the team.
b.
baseball fan n.
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1885 Kansas City (Missouri) Times 10 May 4/4 I am more or less of a base ball fan, myself, and this reminds me that the man who is not thoroughly up in base ball slang nowadays is looked upon with pity.
1889 Daily Shield & Banner (Mansfield, Ohio) 14 May 4/1 W. H. Delong received a large box of..fans this morning. They will be distributed to the base ball ‘fans’ so that they can keep cool until the Mansfield team wins a game.
1967 D. Thomson Louis St Laurent: Canadian in J. McLeod Oxf. Bk. Canad. Polit. Anecd. (1988) 132 An ardent baseball fan, Duplessis proved expert in knocking out electric light bulbs with champagne glasses.
2009 New Yorker 20 Apr. 69/2 In the way that baseball fans visit stadium after stadium, or that a pilgrim seeks the cathedral in every city.
baseball field n.
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1864 Amer. Boy's Bk. Sports & Games i. 85 (caption) Diagram of a base-ball field.
2003 M. Lewis Moneyball vi. 134 Every event on a baseball field Paul understood as having an ‘expected run value’.
baseball game n.
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1857 Nassau Lit. Mag. (Princeton Univ.) Nov. 142 Minos, Aeaeus and Rhadamanthus, the three judges of Pluto's realm, were never animated by a stricter regard for justice, than their illustrious descendants in office, the arbiters of the base ball game.
1950 S. Plath Jrnls. (2000) 20 But then I do a flipover and reach into my mind to E., seeing a baseball game, maybe, perhaps watching television.
2004 W. St. John Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer 24 I'll..go out with the Bices to a local farm league baseball game.
baseball player n.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > baseball player > [noun]
ball player1440
baseball player1856
baseballist1866
baseballer1867
hardballer1930
1856 Brooklyn Daily Eagle 25 July 2/1 His seizure of the Morrisania base ball players in the street is capable of a solution on the same ground.
1970 J. Bouton Ball Four vii. 342 Yes, Virginia, baseball players watch the scoreboard... It's really exciting.
2005 N.Y. Times 11 Sept. viii. 3/3 They're baseball players just like I am. They put their unis on the same way I do.
baseball team n.
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1869 Cleveland (Ohio) Leader 27 May 1/9 In all respects the nine of Cincinnati this season is the finest base ball team that can be assembled in the west.
1938 Open Road for Boys July 6/1 About a week later I dropped off at a pocket edition of a station, and the train of Pullmans rolled away leaving me there surrounded by enough vacant land to supply all the baseball teams in the world.
2002 A. Davies Frog King 209 I imagine a guy running around in a costume like a baseball team's mascot.
C2.
baseball Annie n. slang a woman who pursues sexual relationships with professional baseball players.
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1949 Time 27 June 20/3 He..described Ruth as a ‘Baseball Annie’, one of an army of hero-worshiping teen-age girls who follow players around.
1970 J. Bouton Ball Four v. 218 It is permissible, in the scheme of things, to promise a Baseball Annie dinner and a show in return for certain quick services for a pair of roommates.
2006 ‘L. Burana’ Try xi. 128 Every sport has its groupie: baseball has the baseball Annie; NASCAR has the pit lizard.
baseball bat n. a bat of the type used in baseball to hit pitched balls, having a cylindrical head which tapers towards the handle.Only wooden bats are permitted in major league baseball, but metal alloy (chiefly aluminium) bats are common in amateur use.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > [noun] > equipment
willow1846
baseball1853
bat1856
baseball bat1858
base bag1863
baseball glove1884
apple1902
rabbit ball1907
joystick1908
1858 Spirit of Times 10 July 261/1 (heading) Cricketer's chronicle. First eleven, with base ball bats, vs. the remainder of the New York Club.
1890 D. C. Beard Amer. Boy's Handy Bk. xxvii. 257 The rowing season has closed; the baseball bats and lawn tennis rackets are stowed away.
1950 Lima (Ohio) News 18 Aug. 19/3 Ash wood used for baseball bats is air-cured.
2003 Guardian 16 July (Society section) 2/2 By the time he was 13, the group was using bottles, knives and baseball bats in fights with neighbouring youths.
baseball boot n. (originally) a boot worn for playing baseball (now rare); (in later use) an ankle-high lace-up boot, typically made of canvas with a rubber sole, and worn as leisurewear.
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1880 Springfield (Mass.) Republican 26 Aug. 2/6 One belle at Rodick's hotel endeavors to act unconscious in a short costume of broad striped bed-ticking with base-ball boots.
1888 Boston Sunday Globe 1 July 12/7 (advt.) Gents' tennis, bicycle, yachting and base ball boots.
1904 Manitoba Free Press 16 May 5/6 (advt.) Extra good quality Black Mule Skin Baseball Boots, very light, yet strong and flexible. Iron cleats on bottom.
1922 Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 14 Oct. 10/2 (advt.) Boys' base ball boots, white canvas, black rubber fittings.
2003 Independent 27 Aug. (Review section) 4/2 A quick survey of the shoes being worn by festival-goers reveals..two pairs of baseball boots..and a battered old pair of Green Flash plimsolls.
baseball cap n. a cap with a large peak and a soft, rounded crown, often bearing a logo, worn by baseball players or as an item of casual clothing.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > cap > types of > peaked > types of
tiar1513
tiara1555
jockey-cap1748
Mary Queen of Scots cap1813
baseball cap1865
baseball hat1867
cheese-cutter1870
fore and aft1888
staff cap1902
Mao cap1967
1865 Sun (Baltimore) 30 Sept. 1/2 The finest stock of hats and caps in the city, at Nicely's Emporium of Fashion. Silk hats, cassimere hats..base ball caps.
1941 J. Agee & W. Evans Let us now praise Famous Men 346 Young men in baseball caps..tumble the bales with short sharp hooks.
1996 J. Mandelaro & S. Pitoniak Silver Seasons vii. 85 He continually fussed with his baseball cap at the plate.
2006 I. Rankin Naming of Dead xi. 161 Local troublemakers ready to rumble, smothered in Burberry scarves and baseball caps.
baseball card n. a collectable picture card depicting a baseball player, often including performance statistics and biographical information; cf. cigarette card n. at cigarette n. Compounds 2.Quot. 1875 may refer to a card used in a game.
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1875 New Hampsh. Sentinel 12 Aug. 3/3 The printing of railroad and baseball cards a specialty.
1885 Chicago Tribune 18 June 2/4 (heading) Base-ball cards.
1970 R. Thorp & R. Blake Music of their Laughter 11/2 Usually it wasn't very much, ten packs of baseball cards or something like that.
2000 N. Toches Nick Toches Reader 419 When I was a boy, I had baseball cards. Now I've got these little memorial prayer cards that they give out at wakes.
baseball diamond n. = diamond n. 5d.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > baseball ground > [noun]
ball field1440
park1867
ballpark1871
baseball diamond1871
diamond1875
ballyard1897
orchard1913
1871 Janesville (Wisconsin) Gaz. 16 June Racine and Evanston College nines met on the base ball diamond at Racine.
1899 Catholic World July 565 A thrilling struggle upon the base-ball diamond.
1948 Pacific Discov. Mar. 18/2 Flocks of Brewer blackbirds pass overhead on their way to forage on the baseball diamond.
2005 D. Cowie Owen Noone & Marauder 57 The event was staged on a practice field next to the baseball diamond.
baseball finger n. = mallet finger n. at mallet n.1 Compounds 2.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > [noun] > of the digits
ainhum1867
toeing1871
baseball finger1873
phalangitis1877
Raynaud1883
mallet finger1894
toe-drop1899
white finger1918
1873 Daily Reg. (Rockford, Illinois) 13 Aug. 6/3 Last evening one of the aspirants for fame in that line got a base ball finger and a nose put on him which would excite envy even in the breast of a professional.
1901 M. F. Egan Belinda iii. 30 Belinda smiled; she liked the young man's looks; he had three baseball fingers.
2009 A. P. Winterstein Athletic Training Student Primer (ed. 2) vii. 145/1 Mallet finger is sometimes called baseball finger because the mechanism involves trauma to the end of the finger (common when a ball is misplayed and hits the end of the finger).
baseball glove n. a padded leather glove worn by baseball fielders to catch a thrown or batted ball, often spec. one having individual pockets for each finger; cf. mitt n. 2c.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > [noun] > equipment
willow1846
baseball1853
bat1856
baseball bat1858
base bag1863
baseball glove1884
apple1902
rabbit ball1907
joystick1908
1884 Industr. Advance of Rochester 158/1 The goods manufactured..include..base ball gloves.
1947 B. Feller Strikeout Story i. 5 They contained two baseball gloves, one a Rogers Hornsby fielding mitt and the other a Ray Schalk catching mitt.
2008 Kiplinger's Personal Finance Sept. 80/2 Another strategy that works: Have your children save toward a goal, whether it's a toy or a new baseball glove.
baseball hat n. = baseball cap n.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > cap > types of > peaked > types of
tiar1513
tiara1555
jockey-cap1748
Mary Queen of Scots cap1813
baseball cap1865
baseball hat1867
cheese-cutter1870
fore and aft1888
staff cap1902
Mao cap1967
1867 Richmond (Va.) Times 16 Apr. (advt.) Attention! Ye base-ball men! Just received the Champion base-ball hat, at Schaap & Hartman's.
1951 J. Kerouac On the Road: Orig. Scroll (2007) 118 All the men were..wearing railroad hats, baseball hats.
2005 T. Hall Salaam Brick Lane viii. 183 A couple of black kids in hoods and baseball hats slalomed through the crowd on bicycles.
baseball mitt n. a baseball glove, spec. one worn by the catcher or first baseman having a single pocket for all four fingers; = mitt n. 2c.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for hands > [noun] > glove > types of > for specific purpose > gloves
housemaid's glove1846
mitt1892
baseball mitt1893
1893 Boston Herald 6 May 2/1 130 Boys' Base Ball Mitts, each....22c.
1953 Life 8 June 45 If he had asked for a baseball mitt or a hockey stick he would have gotten the very best.
1992 B. Geist Little League Confidential iii. 30 Getting out the old baseball mitts and thumping your fists into them is always referred to as a Rite of Spring.
baseball shirt n. a shirt worn (as a uniform) for playing baseball; (also) a type of casual shirt (esp. a long-sleeved T-shirt) having raglan sleeves in a contrasting colour.
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1860 N.Y. Herald 27 June 3/2 (advt.) Travelling, Cricketing and Base Ball Shirts and Pants Constantly on hand and made to order.
1885 Atlanta Constit. 20 Sept. 7/5 (advt.) Gents' baseball shirts, a decided novelty.
1943 Sun (Baltimore) 4 Feb. 17/2 The Chicago Cubs..have worn sleeveless baseball shirts, or vestees, for the last three years.
1971 Billboard 2 Oct. 20/3 Their second live double-album..will ignite promotions of Grateful Dead baseball shirts, wall posters [etc.].
1995 St. Petersburg (Florida) Times (Electronic ed.) 10 Mar. 1 Beattie..donned a Twins baseball shirt at the Countryside Little League field.
2010 B. Greenfield Ten Minutes from Home xv. 156 She wore a new T-shirt that her father had gotten her at the mall—a white baseball shirt with blue three-quarter-length sleeves.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.1748