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Great - 6 dictionary results

great

  [greyt] adjective, -er, -est, adverb, noun, plural greats, (especially collectively) great, interjection
Use Great in a Sentence
–adjective
1. unusually or comparatively large in size or dimensions: A great fire destroyed nearly half the city.
2. large in number; numerous: Great hordes of tourists descend on Europe each summer.
3. unusual or considerable in degree, power, intensity, etc.: great pain.
4. wonderful; first-rate; very good: We had a great time. That's great!
5. being such in an extreme or notable degree: great friends; a great talker.
6. notable; remarkable; exceptionally outstanding: a great occasion.
7. important; highly significant or consequential: the great issues in American history.
8. distinguished; famous: a great inventor.
9. of noble or lofty character: great thoughts.
10. chief or principal: the great hall; his greatest novel.
11. of high rank, official position, or social standing: a great noble.
12. much in use or favor: “Humor” was a great word with the old physiologists.
13. of extraordinary powers; having unusual merit; very admirable: a great statesman.
14. of considerable duration or length: We waited a great while for the train.
15. Informal.
a. enthusiastic about some specified activity (usually fol. by at, for, or on): He's great on reading poetry aloud.
b. skillful; expert (usually fol. by at or on): He's great at golf.
16. being of one generation more remote from the family relative specified (used in combination): a great-grandson.
–adverb
17. Informal. very well: Things have been going great for him.
–noun
18. a person who has achieved importance or distinction in a field: She is one of the theater's greats.
19. great persons, collectively: England's literary great.
20. (often initial capital letter) greats, (used with a singular verb) Also called great go. British Informal.
a. the final examination for the bachelor's degree in the classics and mathematics, or Literae Humaniores, esp. at Oxford University and usually for honors.
b. the course of study.
c. the subject studied.
–interjection
21. (used to express acceptance, appreciation, approval, admiration, etc.).
22. (used ironically or facetiously to express disappointment, annoyance, distress, etc.): Great! We just missed the last train home.
—Idiom
23. great with child, being in the late stages of pregnancy.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME greet, OE grēat; c. D groot, G gross

Related forms:
greatness, noun

Synonyms:
1. immense, enormous, gigantic, huge, vast, grand. Great, big, large refer to size, extent, and degree. In reference to the size and extent of concrete objects, big is the most general and most colloquial word, large is somewhat more formal, and great is highly formal and even poetic, suggesting also that the object is notable or imposing: a big tree; a large tree; a great oak; a big field; a large field; great plains. When the reference is to degree or a quality, great is the usual word: great beauty; great mistake; great surprise; although big sometimes alternates with it in colloquial style: a big mistake; a big surprise; large is not used in reference to degree, but may be used in a quantitative reference: a large number (great number). 6. noteworthy. 7. weighty, serious, momentous, vital, critical. 8. famed, eminent, noted, notable, prominent, renowned. 9. elevated, exalted, dignified. 10. main, grand, leading.

Antonyms:
1. small. 6–8, 10, 11, 14. insignificant.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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great   (grāt)   
adj.   great·er, great·est
  1. Very large in size.
  2. Larger in size than others of the same kind.
  3. Large in quantity or number: A great throng awaited us. See Synonyms at large.
  4. Extensive in time or distance: a great delay.
  5. Remarkable or outstanding in magnitude, degree, or extent: a great crisis.
  6. Of outstanding significance or importance: a great work of art.
  7. Chief or principal: the great house on the estate.
  8. Superior in quality or character; noble: "For he was great, ere fortune made him so" (John Dryden).
  9. Powerful; influential: one of the great nations of the West.
  10. Eminent; distinguished: a great leader.
  11. Grand; aristocratic.
  12. Informal Enthusiastic: a great lover of music.
  13. Informal Very skillful: great at algebra.
  14. Informal Very good; first-rate: We had a great time at the dance.
  15. Being one generation removed from the relative specified. Often used in combination: a great-granddaughter.
  16. Archaic Pregnant.
n.  
  1. pl. greats or great One that is great: a composer considered among the greats.
  2. Music
    1. A division of most pipe organs, usually containing the most powerful ranks of pipes.
    2. A similar division of other organs.
adv.   Informal
Very well: got along great with the teacher.

[Middle English grete, from Old English grēat, thick, coarse.]
great'ly adv., great'ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Great

Great\, a. [Compar. Greater; superl. Greatest.] [OE. gret, great, AS. gre['a]t; akin to OS. & LG. gr[=o]t, D. groot, OHG. gr[=o]z, G. gross. Cf. Groat the coin.]

1. Large in space; of much size; big; immense; enormous; expanded; -- opposed to small and little; as, a great house, ship, farm, plain, distance, length.

2. Large in number; numerous; as, a great company, multitude, series, etc.

3. Long continued; lengthened in duration; prolonged in time; as, a great while; a great interval.

4. Superior; admirable; commanding; -- applied to thoughts, actions, and feelings.

5. Endowed with extraordinary powers; uncommonly gifted; able to accomplish vast results; strong; powerful; mighty; noble; as, a great hero, scholar, genius, philosopher, etc.

6. Holding a chief position; elevated: lofty: eminent; distingushed; foremost; principal; as, great men; the great seal; the great marshal, etc.

He doth object I am too great of birth. --Shak.

7. Entitled to earnest consideration; weighty; important; as, a great argument, truth, or principle.

8. Pregnant; big (with young).

The ewes great with young. --Ps. lxxviii. 71.

9. More than ordinary in degree; very considerable in degree; as, to use great caution; to be in great pain.

We have all Great cause to give great thanks. --Shak.

10. (Genealogy) Older, younger, or more remote, by single generation; -- often used before grand to indicate one degree more remote in the direct line of descent; as, great-grandfather (a grandfather's or a grandmother's father), great-grandson, etc.

Great bear (Astron.), the constellation Ursa Major.

Great cattle (Law), all manner of cattle except sheep and yearlings. --Wharton.

Great charter (Eng. Hist.), Magna Charta.

Great circle of a sphere, a circle the plane of which passes through the center of the sphere.

Great circle sailing, the process or art of conducting a ship on a great circle of the globe or on the shortest arc between two places.

Great go, the final examination for a degree at the University of Oxford, England; -- called also greats. --T. Hughes.

Great guns. (Naut.) See under Gun.

The Great Lakes the large fresh-water lakes (Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario) which lie on the northern borders of the United States.

Great master. Same as Grand master, under Grand.

Great organ (Mus.), the largest and loudest of the three parts of a grand organ (the others being the choir organ and the swell, and sometimes the pedal organ or foot keys), It is played upon by a separate keyboard, which has the middle position.

The great powers (of Europe), in modern diplomacy, Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Russia, and Italy.

Great primer. See under Type.

Great scale (Mus.), the complete scale; -- employed to designate the entire series of musical sounds from lowest to highest.

Great sea, the Mediterranean sea. In Chaucer both the Black and the Mediterranean seas are so called.

Great seal. (a) The principal seal of a kingdom or state. (b) In Great Britain, the lord chancellor (who is custodian of this seal); also, his office.

Great tithes. See under Tithes.

The great, the eminent, distinguished, or powerful.

The Great Spirit, among the North American Indians, their chief or principal deity.

To be great (with one), to be intimate or familiar (with him). --Bacon.

Great

Great\, n. The whole; the gross; as, a contract to build a ship by the great.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : Great
Spanish: grande, gran (antes del nombre), importante,
German: bedeutend,
Japanese: 偉大な
More Translations »

great 
O.E. great "big, coarse, stout," from W.Gmc. *grautaz (cf. O.S. grot, O.Fris. grat, Du. groot, Ger. groß "great"). Originally "big in size, coarse," it took over much of the sense of M.E. mickle, and is now largely superseded by big and large except for non-material things. As a prefix to terms denoting "kinship one degree further removed" (1538) it is from Fr. grand, which is from L. magnus. In the sense of "excellent, wonderful" it is attested from 1848. Great White Way "Broadway in New York City" is from 1901. Greatcoat "large, heavy overcoat" is from 1661. Great Spirit "high deity of the North American Indians," 1703, originally translates Ojibwa kitchi manitou. The Great War originally (1887) referred to the Napoleonic Wars, later (1914) to what we now call World War I (see world).
" 'The Great War' -- as, until the fall of France, the British continued to call the First World War in order to avoid admitting to themselves that they were now again engaged in a war of the same magnitude." [Arnold Toynbee, "Experiences," 1969]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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great

In addition to the idioms beginning with great, also see good (great) deal; good (great) many; go to any length (great lengths); have a good (great) mind to; make great strides; no great shakes; set (great) store by.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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