baseball: Meaning and Definition of

base•ball

Pronunciation: (bās'bôl"), [key]
— n.
  1. a game of ball between two nine-player teams played usually for nine innings on a field that has as a focal point a diamond-shaped infield with a home plate and three other bases, 90 ft. (27 m) apart, forming a circuit that must be completed by a base runner in order to score, the central offensive action entailing hitting of a pitched ball with a wooden or metal bat and running of the bases, the winner being the team scoring the most runs.
  2. the ball used in this game, being a sphere approximately 3 in. (7 cm) in diameter with a twine-covered center of cork covered by stitched horsehide.
  3. a variety of five-card or seven-card stud poker in which nines and threes are wild and in which threes and fours dealt face up gain the player either penalties or privileges.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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