the big leagues

plural noun

US
: the two highest U.S. baseball leagues (the American League and the National League)
He always dreamed of playing in the big leagues.
often used figuratively
She's moving up to the big leagues in the television industry.
She's in the big leagues now, working for a major law firm in a large city.

Examples of the big leagues in a Sentence

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Chase Petty and Chase Burns could potentially crack the big leagues this season, too. Newsweek Staff, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Apr. 2025 Those will get crushed by any bat in the big leagues. Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 31 Mar. 2025 Teams aren’t gonna spend that kind of money without their guys getting to the big leagues. Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 28 Mar. 2025 On Donovan’s third day in the big leagues, there was a bench-clearing situation between the Cardinals and New York Mets, and that was an eye-opener to him. Jeremy Rutherford, New York Times, 27 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for the big leagues

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Cite this Entry

“The big leagues.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20big%20leagues. Accessed 20 Apr. 2025.

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