The AI-powered English dictionary
plural leagues
A group or association of cooperating members. quotations examples
And let there be / 'Twixt us and them no league, nor amity.
1668, John Denham, The Passion of Dido for Aeneas
(sports) An organization of sports teams which play against one another for a championship. examples
(informal, rugby) Ellipsis of rugby league. examples
(chiefly in the negative) A class or type of people or things that are evenly matched or on the same level. examples
A prefecture-level administrative unit in Inner Mongolia (Chinese: 盟). examples
(military) An alliance or coalition.
third-person singular simple present leagues, present participle leaguing, simple past and past participle leagued
(transitive, intransitive) To form an association; to unite in a league or confederacy; to combine for mutual support. quotations examples
Out of my sight, thou Serpent, that name best Befits thee with him leagu'd.
1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […]; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873,
I believe that all the Bohemians and the great folks in Paris are so leagued together, that they are afraid of one another, and the people receive all the buffets of their disagreeings.
1845, Bentley's Miscellany, volume 18, page 7
(measurement) The distance that a person can walk in one hour, commonly taken to be approximately three English miles (about five kilometers). quotations examples
Thenne kynge Mark and sir Dynadan rode forth a four leges englysshe tyl that they came to a brydge where houed a knyght on horsbak armed and redy to Iuste."Then King Mark and Sir Dinadan rode forth a four leagues English, till that they came to a bridge where hoved a knight on horseback, armed and ready to joust."
1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book X, Chapter 10
Seven leagues above the mouth of the river we meet with two other passes, as large as the middle one by which we entered.
1751-1753, Antoine-Simon Le Page du Pratz, History of Louisiana (PG), p. 47
To this time the Dutch had kept two garrisons in the North of Formosa, one of which was at Fort Kelang, taken from the Spaniards ; the other was at a place called Tamsui, about ten leagues to the westward of Kelang.
1813, James Burney, A Chronological History of the Discoveries in the South Sea or Pacific Ocean, volume 3, London: Luke Hansard and Sons, page 257
Half a league, half a league, / Half a league onward, / All in the valley of Death / Rode the six hundred.
1855, Alfred Tennyson, “The Charge of the Light Brigade”, in Maud, and Other Poems, London: Edward Moxon, […], stanza 1, page 151
A stone erected near a public road to mark the distance of a league. examples