league
13
9.9
- noun
- /liːɡ/
- Archaic
- When we had gone two or three leagues we heard several musket shots, and bullets whistled close past us.
- a league (3 miles)
- ride two leagues
- seven leagues
Examples
-
Wulf's army is 20 leagues from Edoras.
-
They traveled for several leagues across the vast landscape of the old country.
-
Therefore, each of the reported two leagues in between would have to be longer than six miles.
Academic text (1991) -
I did not tell them until we were within two leagues of the fortress.
-
I believe the Indies are no more than 750 leagues west of the Canary Islands.
Fiction book (1992) -
Aguato Pueblo was one Espejo league from the ruined eastern frontier pueblo.
Academic text (1991) -
On 21 April (old style), Espejo's party rode two leagues to Gaspe Pueblo, built with high stone walls.
Academic text (1991) -
Traveling west across the Colorado Plateau fifteen leagues brought the prospectors to Chavez Pass at Canon Diablo.
Academic text (1993) -
The explorers reported that it was only a few leagues to the nearest settlement in the mountainous region.
-
After walking for three leagues, they finally reached the edge of the forest.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A traditional Chinese unit of distance equal to about half a kilometre
1
9.6
An old British unit used at sea to measure distance equal to 6,000 feet
1
9.9
An old measure for cloth equal to about 45 inches
1
3.3
A unit for length like a meter or inch
1
8.9
An old British unit of length equal to 6,080 feet
A measure of distance in Sweden equal to ten kilometers
Idioms
- Informal
21
7.6
Too good for someone to match, often in social or romantic situations
Compounds
76
2.8
An organized baseball and softball league for children with teams, games, and coaching
27
3.8
An organization of Arab countries that helps them work together on politics, trade, culture, and social issues
10
4.1
An international group created after World War I to keep peace, ended in 1946 and replaced by the United Nations
8
2.3
A group of basketball teams that play against each other in a series of games
- Slang
1
8.9
A low-level baseball league often used to describe something of lower quality
1
8.6
A group of Native American tribes in northeastern North America that joined together
1
9.9
A group of northern European trading cities that worked together for trade and protection in the Middle Ages
1
8.5
A group of five Iroquois tribes in eastern North America that formed a political alliance and later added a sixth
A war from 1689 to 1697 in which many European countries fought against France led by King Louis XIV
An organization that helps people share new ideas, find investors, and meet business contacts
How Long
- Archaic
13
9.9
- Specialized
14
4.4
- Specialized
1
6.3
- Archaic
- Specialized
11
6.5
Surface Forms
Etymology
League as a unit of distance comes from the Old French lieue and Latin leuga, meaning 'the distance a person could walk in an hour'. So a league was a way to say a long walk — roughly three miles — and that is why it names this old measure of distance.