league
noun /liːɡ/
/liːɡ/
Idioms - a group of sports teams who all play each other to earn points and find which team is best
- Castleford have led the league for most of the season.
- We must do better if we are to win the league again this season.
- a league match/game
- They missed an opportunity to clinch the league title at the weekend.
- The league leaders scored 3 goals in the last five minutes.
- United were league champions last season.
- in a league the best team in the league
- Their 3–0 win was enough to put them at the top of the league.
- Bristol were at the bottom of the league.
Extra ExamplesTopics Sports: ball and racket sportsb2- He played Sunday League cricket for years.
- He set a league record for the longest touchdown run.
- Hopefully he'll get called up to the big leagues soon.
- The Yankees dominated the league in 1998.
- The team joined the Northern League last year.
- They want to start a new football league.
- They're hoping to improve their position in the league.
- new proposals for a European super league
- the first women's professional athletic league in the US
- the standard for professional sports leagues in this country
- players for a team in a fantasy league
- They face a league club in the next round.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- basketball
- cricket
- football
- …
- create
- form
- set up
- …
- champions
- leaders
- championship
- …
- in a/the league
- at the bottom of the league
- at the top of the league
- come bottom of the league
- …
- (informal) a level of quality, ability, etc.
- in a league As a painter, he is in a league of his own (= much better than others).
- They're in a different league from us.
- not in somebody's league When it comes to cooking, I'm not in her league (= she is much better than me).
- out of somebody's league A house like that is out of our league (= too expensive for us).
Extra Examples- Today's technology is in a different league.
- This move propelled him into the political big league.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- big
- super
- top
- …
- in a different league
- in a league of your own
- not in the same league (as…)
- …
- a group of people or nations who have combined for a particular purpose synonym alliance
- the League of Nations
- a meeting of the Women’s League for Peace
Extra ExamplesTopics Politicsb2- the countries in the Arab League
- the League for Prison Reform
- (old use) a unit for measuring distance, equal to about 3 miles or 4 000 metresMore Like This Silent lettersSilent letters
- gnarled
- gnash
- gnat
- gnaw
- gnome
- haute cuisine
- heir
- herb
- honour
- hors d’oeuvre
- hour
- knack
- knee
- kneel
- knife
- knight
- knit
- knob
- knock
- knot
- know
- knuckle
- psalm
- psephology
- psychic
- ptarmigan
- pterodactyl
- psychology
- wrangle
- wrap
- wreath
- wreck
- wrench
- wrestle
- wriggle
- wring
- write
- wrong
- bomb
- climb
- crumb
- doubt
- lamb
- limb
- ascent
- fascinate
- muscle
- scene
- scissors
- height
- right
- sleigh
- weight
- align
- campaign
- design
- foreign
- malign
- reign
- unfeigned
- balmy
- calm
- calf
- half
- yolk
- autumn
- column
- condemn
- damn
- hymn
- solemn
- bristle
- fasten
- listen
- mortgage
- soften
- thistle
- wrestle
- biscuit
- build
- circuit
- disguise
- guilty
- league
- rogue
- vague
- yacht
- answer
- sword
- two
Word Originsenses 1 to 3 late Middle English (denoting a compact for mutual protection or advantage): via French from Italian lega, from legare ‘to bind’, from Latin ligare.sense 4 late Middle English: from late Latin leuga, leuca, late Greek leugē, or from Provençal lega (modern French lieue).
Idioms
in league (with somebody)
- making secret plans with somebody
- Those two crooks seem to be in league with each other.