minor league

¹

[ mahy-ner leeg ]

noun

, Sports.

1. any association of professional teams other than the major leagues, as in baseball, especially when the member teams are associated with or controlled by major-league teams, which use them as training and proving teams for promising players.

minor-league

²

[ mahy-ner-leeg ]

adjective

1. Sports. of or relating to the minor leagues, especially in baseball.
2. Informal. of little import or consequence:

   a painter with minor-league talent.

   Synonyms: second-rate, lesser, insignificant

minor league

noun

1. any professional league in baseball other than a major league Compare major league
2. modifier of relatively little importance

   that firm is very minor league

Other Words From

• minor lea·guer mi·nor-lea·guer noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of minor league¹

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85

Origin of minor league²

An Americanism dating back to 1930–35; adjective use of minor league ( def )

Example Sentences

Gerardo Parra gets minor league deal and spring training invite with NationalsSean Doolittle, now headed to the Reds, loved Washington.

From Washington Post

For a moment, it seemed like the aggressiveness from minor league teams was about to backfire.

From Ozy

Washington took him in the second round of the 2014 draft, and he spent five seasons in the minor leagues while waiting for a chance to crack the Capitals’ roster.

From Washington Post

It is the birthplace of Robert Moses “Lefty” Grove, a Hall of Fame pitcher who at one point played in Baltimore for a minor league team called the Orioles.

From Washington Post

The coronavirus pandemic led to a full cancellation of the minor league season in 2020.

From Washington Post

Yes, the minor-league baseball player memorably portrayed by Kevin Costner in Bull Durham.

From The Daily Beast

A former baseball player sues for a minor league living wage.

From The Daily Beast

Richardson found other coaching jobs but never in the NBA, he was been a career minor league head coach.

From The Daily Beast

Here he celebrates the heyday of Birmingham's minor league team, the Barons.

From The Daily Beast

The state of Georgia once had twenty-two minor-league towns; now it has only three.

From The Daily Beast

Lemblow was a minor-league pitcher who had long wanted to get a chance to play with the Giants.

From Project Gutenberg

All were jubilant that they had escaped the humiliation of being whipped by a minor league team.

From Project Gutenberg

Mr. Stokowski's doings of the last few years can no longer be classed as minor-league musical sensations.

From Project Gutenberg

We start north to-morrow, went on McRae, in two lots, playing minor league teams on the way to keep in practice.

From Project Gutenberg

So, when Joe received an offer from the manager of one of the minor league professional teams, he took it.

From Project Gutenberg