Softball is a slower relative of baseball with a larger ball. Play softball, a softball game, a softball pitch.
The ball is bigger and not actually soft, the pitching is underarm and the diamond is smaller, which is why the game is quicker and easier to take up. A softball question is an easy one lobbed to somebody on purpose. It began indoors in Chicago in 1887.
1nounsoftballA game like baseball with a larger ball and underarm pitching.
“The girls play softball in the park every summer evening.”
softball is a game.
Soft plus ball, coined in 1926. The game began indoors in Chicago in 1887 under other names.
From soft + ball. 1926: soft + ball. Compare hardball.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA