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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
League \League\ (l[=e]g), noun [F. ligue, LL. liga, fr. L. ligare to bind; cf. Sp. liga. Cf. {Ally} a confederate, {Ligature}.]
1. An alliance or combination of two or more nations, parties, organizations, or persons, for the accomplishment of a purpose which requires a continued course of action, as for mutual defense, or for furtherance of commercial, religious, or political interests, etc.
And let there be 'Twixt us and them no league, nor amity. --Denham.
2. Specifically: (Sports) An association of sports teams that establishes rules of play, decides questions of membership in the league, and organizes matches between the member teams. In some cases a sports league is called a {conference}, as in the {National Football Conference}. [PJC]
Note: A league may be offensive or defensive, or both; offensive, when the parties agree to unite in attacking a common enemy; defensive, when they agree to a mutual defense of each other against an enemy.
{The Holy League}, an alliance of Roman Catholics formed in 1576 by influence of the Duke of Guise for the exclusion of Protestants from the throne of France.
{Solemn League and Covenant}. See {Covenant},2.
{The land league}, an association, organized in Dublin in 1879, to promote the interests of the Irish tenantry, its avowed objects being to secure fixity of tenure, fair rent, and free sale of the tenants' interest. It was declared illegal by Parliament, but vigorous prosecutions have failed to suppress it.
Syn: Alliance; confederacy; confederation; coalition; combination; compact; co["o]peration.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
League \League\ (l[=e]g), noun [Cf. OE. legue, lieue, a measure of length, F. lieue, Pr. lega, legua, It. & LL. lega, Sp. legua, Pg. legoa, legua; all fr. LL. leuca, of Celtic origin: cf. Arm. leo, lev (perh. from French), Ir. leige (perh. from English); also Ir. & Gael. leac a flag, a broad, flat stone, W. llech, -- such stones having perh. served as a sort of milestone (cf. {Cromlech}).]
1. A measure of length or distance, varying in different countries from about 2.4 to 4.6 English statute miles of 5,280 feet each, and used (as a land measure) chiefly on the continent of Europe, and in the Spanish parts of America. The marine league of England and the United States is equal to three marine, or geographical, miles of 6080 feet each.
Note: The English land league is equal to three English statute miles. The Spanish and French leagues vary in each country according to usage and the kind of measurement to which they are applied. The Dutch and German leagues contain about four geographical miles, or about 4.6 English statute miles.
2. A stone erected near a public road to mark the distance of a league. [Obs.]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
League \League\, verb (used with an object) To join in a league; to cause to combine for a joint purpose; to combine; to unite; as, common interests will league heterogeneous elements.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
League \League\, verb (used without an object) [imp. & p. p. {Leagued}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Leaguing}.] [Cf. F. se liguer. See 2d {League}.] To unite in a league or confederacy; to combine for mutual support; to confederate. --South.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
league
noun
1: an association of sports teams that organizes matches for its members [syn: {conference}]
2: an association of states or organizations or individuals for common action
3: an obsolete unit of distance of variable length (usually 3 miles)
verb: unite to form a league
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
295 Moby Thesaurus words for "league": Anschluss, Bund, NATO, Rochdale cooperative, SEATO, accouple, accumulate, act in concert, act together, addition, affiliate, affiliate with, affiliation, agglomeration, agglutinate, aggregation, agreement, alignment, alliance, ally, amalgamate, amalgamation, amass, anschluss, articulate, assemblage, assemble, assimilation, associate, association, axis, band, band together, be in cahoots, be in league, blend, blending, bloc, body, bond, bracket, bridge, bridge over, brotherhood, bunch, bunch up, cabal, cahoots, capitulation, cartel, category, cement, cement a union, centralization, centralize, chain, circuit, clap together, clot, club, club together, cluster, coact, coadunation, coalesce, coalescence, coalition, collaborate, colleagueship, collect, college, collegialism, collegiality, collude, combination, combine, combo, come into, come together, common market, composition, comprise, comradeship, concatenate, concert, concord, concordat, concur, confederacy, confederate, confederation, conference, confraternity, congeries, conglobulate, conglomeration, congregate, conjoin, conjugate, conjugation, conjunction, connect, consociate, consolidate, consolidation, conspiracy, conspire, consumer cooperative, convention, converge, cooperate, cooperative, cooperative society, copartnership, copartnery, copulate, corps, council, couple, cover, credit union, creep in, crowd, customs union, date, division, do business with, economic community, ecumenism, embodiment, embrace, encompass, encompassment, enlist, enosis, enroll, entente, entente cordiale, enter, federalization, federalize, federate, federation, fellowship, flock together, flow together, forgather, fraternalism, fraternity, fraternization, free trade area, freemasonry, fuse, fusion, gang, gang around, gang up, gather, gather around, get heads together, get into, get together, glue, go in partners, go in partnership, go into, go partners, grade, group, grouping, guild, hang together, harmonize, herd together, hive, hold together, hook up, hook up with, hookup, horde, huddle, include, inclusion, incorporation, integration, international agreement, join, join forces, join fortunes with, join in, join together, join up, join up with, join with, junction, junta, keep together, knot, lay together, league together, league with, link, loop, lump together, machine, make common cause, marriage, marry, marshal, mass, meet, meld, melding, merge, merger, mill, mob, mobilize, muster, mutual-defense treaty, nonaggression pact, order, organize, package, package deal, paction, pair, pair off, partner, partnership, piece together, pigeonhole, play ball, political machine, pull together, put heads together, put together, rally, rally around, reciprocate, rendezvous, ring, seethe, sign on, sign up, sneak in, society, sodality, solder, solidification, sorority, span, splice, stand together, stand up with, stick together, stream, surge, swarm, syncretism, syndication, syneresis, synthesis, take in, take out membership, take up membership, tape, team up, team up with, team with, throng, throw in together, throw in with, tie, tie in, tie in with, tie up, tie up with, tie-in, tie-up, tier, treaty, unification, unify, union, unionize, unite, unite efforts, unite with, wed, wedding, weld, wheel, work together, yoke
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:
League a treaty or confederacy. The Jews were forbidden to enter into an alliance of any kind (1) with the Canaanites (Ex. 23:32, 33; 34:12-16); (2) with the Amalekites (Ex. 17:8, 14; Deut. 25:17-19); (3) with the Moabites and Ammonites (Deut. 2:9, 19). Treaties were permitted to be entered into with all other nations. Thus David maintained friendly intercourse with the kings of Tyre and Hamath, and Solomon with the kings of Tyre and Egypt.
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