major league

noun

1
: a league of highest classification in U.S. professional baseball
broadly : a league of major importance in any of various sports
2
major-league adjective
major leaguer noun

Examples of major league in a Sentence

when you've landed a tenure-track position at that university, you're playing in the major leagues
Recent Examples on the Web The Giants, meanwhile, committed their major league leading 100th error at a critical moment to open the door for Freeman’s go-ahead single in the sixth. Joe Noga, cleveland, 13 Sep. 2023 Before the injury, the 28-year-old was baseball’s most dominant reliever and Baltimore’s most valuable pitcher, with a 1.48 ERA, 33 saves and 110 strikeouts in 61 innings in his second major league season. Nathan Ruiz, Baltimore Sun, 11 Sep. 2023 The 21-year-old Carter, the Texas Rangers top prospect according to MLB Pipeline, made his major league debut on Friday, having been called up to the big league club to take the place of injured right fielder Adolis Garcia. Sportsday Staff, Dallas News, 9 Sep. 2023 The 29-year-old, who underwent his second Tommy John procedure in August 2022, threw two innings for Oklahoma City last week and had been hopeful of making a major league return this month. Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 8 Sep. 2023 Stanton, the 2017 NL MVP, reached 400 homers in 1,520 career games — fourth-fastest in major league history behind Mark McGwire (1,412), Babe Ruth (1,475) and Alex Rodriguez (1,489). Kirkland Crawford, Detroit Free Press, 6 Sep. 2023 The joy is just in being at a major league baseball game. John Kelly, Washington Post, 6 Sep. 2023 By 2018, a similar survey revealed that the percentage of minor league pitchers who had Tommy John soared to 19%; 26% of major league pitchers had undergone the reconstructive surgery. Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY, 31 Aug. 2023 Latrobe pays $10 to quarterback John Brallier for expenses. 1950 — Brooklyn’s Gil Hodges ties a major league record by hitting Boston Brave pitching for four homers in the Dodgers’ 19-3 rout. Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'major league.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1887, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of major league was in 1887

Dictionary Entries Near major league

Cite this Entry

“Major league.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/major%20league. Accessed 23 Sep. 2023.

Kids Definition

major league

noun
: a league in the highest class of U.S. professional sports
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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