softball
[sawft-bawl, soft-]
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Origin of softball
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for softball
Contemporary Examples
Morning talk shows should be a doddle for a President: softball questions easily answered with a platitude or three.
Erick was in the kitchen with the girls, getting ready to leave for his softball game.
Ann is a pleasant brunette, a former class officer, yearbook editor, and member of the softball team at Dryden High.
The Stacks: The Searing Story of How Murder Stalked a Tiny New York TownE. Jean Carroll
April 19, 2014
By 14, he was a bartender whose heroes were the softball players who raced into the bar for a beer between innings.
The Stacks: John Schulian’s Classic Profile of Newspaper Columnist Mike RoykoJohn Schulian
January 5, 2014
He wasn't quite sure how he'd be spending his summer, but he was thinking of volunteering for a softball league.
Historical Examples
Well, 'bout de biggest things us played when I was a chap was baseball, softball, and marbles.
Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former SlavesWork Projects Administration
Ang búla sa bisbul gulam kay sa búla sa supbul, The ball used for baseball is slightly smaller than the ball for softball.
A Dictionary of Cebuano VisayanJohn U. Wolff
She looked around, but no one was paying any attention, they were all watching the softball game.
The Circuit RidersR. C. FitzPatrick
The level area between the creek and the road was large enough so we could have softball games and park cars there.
The Biography of a RabbitRoy Benson
It is amazing that it only took us two days and there was room enough for a football field and two softball diamonds.
The Biography of a RabbitRoy Benson
softball
- a variation of baseball using a larger softer ball, pitched underhand
- the ball used
- cookery the stage in the boiling of a sugar syrup at which it may be rubbed into balls after dipping in cold water
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for softball
n.
baseball of larger than usual size, used in a scaled-down version of the game, 1914, from soft + ball (n.1). The game itself so called from 1926, earlier known as playground baseball. The word earlier was a term in sugar candy making (1894). Softball question, one that is easy to answer, is attested from 1976.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper