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

Recent Examples on the Web

Like Neto, there is some strikeout risk with Adames, but that seems to be the case with most hitters in the big leagues today. — Bernie Pleskoff, Forbes.com, 30 July 2026

Steer is in his fourth full season in the big leagues and has 16 home runs this season. — C. Trent Rosecrans, New York Times, 28 July 2026

But the unintentional fake out showed just how eager the Bronx faithful is to see Lombard in the big leagues. — Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 25 July 2026

The Mets rank 27th in batting average, 26th in runs scored and 28th in OPS, while their rotation has the ninth-worst ERA in the big leagues. — Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 23 July 2026

Rhymes for the big leagues

• fatigues
• intrigues