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big

[big]

Example Sentences Origin

adjective

large, as in size, height, width, or amount: a big house; a big quantity.

of major concern, importance, gravity, or the like: a big problem.

outstanding for a specified quality: a big liar; a big success.

important, as in influence, standing, or wealth: a big man in his field.

grown-up; mature: big enough to know better.

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elder: my big sister.

doing business or conducted on a large scale; major in size or importance: big government.

consisting of the largest or most influential companies in an industry: Big steel wants to lower prices, but the smaller mills don't.

Informal. known or used widely; popular: Nouvelle cuisine became big in the 1970s.

10.

magnanimous; generous; kindly: big enough to forgive.

11.

boastful; pompous; pretentious; haughty: a big talker.

12.

loud; orotund: a big voice.

13.

(of clothing or a clothing design) made of or distinguished by voluminous fabric that is loosely or softly shaped and fitted: a big shirt; the big look.

14.

(of a wine) having more than average flavor, body, and alcoholic content.

15.

filled; brimming: eyes big with tears.

16.

Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. pregnant.

17.

Obsolete. very strong; powerful.

COLLAPSE

adverb

18.

Informal. boastfully; pretentiously: to act big; to talk big.

19.

Informal. with great success; successfully: to go over big.

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Big is always a great word to know.

So is interrobang. Does it mean:

a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.

a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

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noun

20.

the bigs, Sports Slang. the highest level of professional competition, as the major leagues in baseball.

Idioms

21.

be big on, to have a special liking or enthusiasm for: Mother is big on family get-togethers.

22.

big with child. great (def. 23).

Origin:
1250–1300; Middle English big(ge) < ?

Related forms

big·gish, adjective

big·ly, adverb

Synonyms
1. huge, immense; bulky, massive; capacious, voluminous; extensive. See great. 4. consequential. 15. overflowing, flooded.

Antonyms
1. little.

Example Sentences

Calling in the big guns.

Relative to our ape brethren, humans give birth to really big babies.

But big scientific discoveries are by nature counterintuitive and sometimes shocking.

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Dictionary.com Unabridged

verb (used with object), bigged, big·ging. British Dialect.

to build.

Also, bigg.

Origin:
1150–1200; Middle English biggen orig., to inhabit < Old Norse byggja to inhabit, cognate with Old English bū(i)an, German bauen

noun Scot. and North England.

bigg¹.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To big

Collins

World English Dictionary

big¹ (bɪɡ)

—*adj* , bigger, biggest
1.	of great or considerable size, height, weight, number, power, or capacity
2.	having great significance; important: a big decision
3.	important through having power, influence, wealth, authority, etc: the big four banks
4.	(intensifier usually qualifying something undesirable): a big dope
5.	informal considerable in extent or intensity (esp in the phrase in a big way)
6.	a. elder: my big brother
	b. grown-up: when you're big, you can stay up later
7.	a. generous; magnanimous: that's very big of you
	b. (in combination): big-hearted
8.	(often foll by with) brimming; full: my heart is big with sadness
9.	extravagant; boastful: he's full of big talk
10.	(of wine) full-bodied, with a strong aroma and flavour
11.	too big for one's boots, too big for one's breeches conceited; unduly self-confident
12.	in an advanced stage of pregnancy (esp in the phrase big with child)
13.	informal big on enthusiastic about: that company is big on research

—*adv*
14.	boastfully; pretentiously (esp in the phrase talk big)
15.	in an exceptional way; well: his talk went over big with the audience
16.	on a grand scale (esp in the phrase think big)

[C13: perhaps of Scandinavian origin; compare Norwegian dialect bugge big man]

'biggish¹

—*adj*

'bigness¹

—n

big² (bɪɡ)

—vb , bigs, bigging, bigged, bug
1.	to build
2.	to excavate (earth) into a pile

[from Old Norse byggja; related to Old English būian to inhabit]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

big

c.1300, northern England dialect, "powerful, strong," of unknown origin, possibly from a Scandinavian source (cf. Norwegian dial. bugge "great man"). O.E. used micel in many of the same senses. Meaning "of great size" is late 14c.; that of "grown up" is attested from 1550s. Sense of "important" is from

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1570s. Big band as a musical style is from 1926. Slang big head "conceit" is first recorded 1850. Big business is 1905; big house "penitentiary" is U.S. underworld slang first attested 1915 (in London, "a workhouse," 1851). In financial journalism, big ticket items so called from 1956. Big lie is from Hitler's grosse lüge.

COLLAPSE

American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

big

In addition to the idioms beginning with big, also see go over big; great (big) guns; hit it big; in a big way; little frog in a big pond; make a federal case (big deal); talk big; think big; too big for one's breeches; what's the (big) idea. Also see under bigger.