second base
10
3.7
- noun
- /ˈsɛkənd beɪs/
- US
:
segunda base
- I'm gonna play second base for the Yanks.
- steal second base
- slid into second base
- threw to second base
Examples
-
In the top of the 9th inning, K. Calhoun grounded into a fielder's choice to second base.
Blog text (23) -
If I got the runner over to second base, one of those guys would drive him in.
Blog text (13) -
Run like crazy, you run to first base, and then he goes to second base.
-
You might get caught between first and second base.
Fiction book (2002) -
You think they want to know how to steal second base?
-
Scoring from second base on a walk?
Blog text (16) -
We've got a man on second base.
-
When I first saw Willie Cooper steal second base, I couldn't believe how fast he was.
Fiction book (2000) -
A few days later, on June 4th, Indians' centerfielder Rick Manning fractured a vertebra while sliding into second base.
Blog text (7) -
The runner slid safely into second base after hitting a double.
How Close
150
2.7
- NSFW
- US
10
3.7
- Informal
8
4.4
69
3.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sexual/romantic meaning is a culturally specific idiomatic extension of the baseball metaphor and is not a straightforward composition of 'second' (follows the first) + 'base' (a station). A B1 learner who knows the literal constituents but has not been exposed to the baseball-to-relationship mapping would not predict the sense 'touching or fondling above the waist', so prior cultural exposure is required.
Etymology
Second base is the second of four bases on a baseball field, the place a runner touches after moving from first base. So in the game, reaching second base means the runner is closer to 'scoring a run'.