baseball

[ beys-bawl ]

noun

1. a game of ball between two nine-player teams played usually for nine innings on a field that has as a focal point a diamond-shaped infield with a home plate and three other bases, 90 feet (27 meters) apart, forming a circuit that must be completed by a base runner in order to score, the central offensive action entailing hitting of a pitched ball with a wooden or metal bat and running of the bases, the winner being the team scoring the most runs.
2. the ball used in this game, being a sphere approximately 3 inches (7 centimeters) in diameter with a twine-covered center of cork covered by stitched horsehide.
3. Cards. a variety of five-card or seven-card stud poker in which nines and threes are wild and in which threes and fours dealt face up gain the player either penalties or privileges.

baseball

/ ˈbeɪsˌbɔːl /

noun

1. a team game with nine players on each side, played on a field with four bases connected to form a diamond. The object is to score runs by batting the ball and running round the bases
2. the hard rawhide-covered ball used in this game

Other Words From

• pro·baseball adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of baseball¹

First recorded in 1795–1805; base ¹ + ball ¹

Example Sentences

They attended soccer, hockey, baseball and basketball games, saw movies and went to the circus.

From Washington Post

She reveled in watching him learn and grow, and shared stories with friends of how he liked playing baseball, took up bass guitar lessons and was interested in history.

From Washington Post

Only the catcher with the fourth-most WAR in baseball history, Carlton Fisk.

From FiveThirtyEight

He moved to the Arizona Republic in 1997 and then in 2003 to ESPN, where he became a well-known face in the network’s baseball coverage.

From Washington Post

Simon, 74, said her husband enjoyed playing and watching sports, including basketball, soccer and baseball when he was younger.

From Washington Post

Tim Russert and I are driving back to the Albany airport after taking our kids to the baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

From The Daily Beast

The kids had a gift for him too, a tee shirt with ‘Baseball Spoken Here’ stenciled across the front.

From The Daily Beast

This would take time since, under current law, even scouting Cuban baseball players on the island is illegal.

From The Daily Beast

The end of the embargo and resumption of diplomatic relations with Cuba could transform Major League Baseball.

From The Daily Beast

Baseball has long been the most popular sport in Cuba and the island has long been a hotbed of baseball talent.

From The Daily Beast

A kindly young man, with a rather wide face and hands disfigured as to fingers by much early baseball.

From Project Gutenberg

The sittings in the row do not seem to have been marked off any more than they are now in the "bleachers" at our baseball grounds.

From Project Gutenberg

This is a new indoor game which follows out in principle the regular baseball play.

From Project Gutenberg

If ducks could only be taught to play baseball they would beat Ty Cobb at stealing bases.

From Project Gutenberg

Living with her was like watching a baseball game with the bases always full and two strikes on the batter.

From Project Gutenberg