English Dictionary

GIANT

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IPA (US): 

 Dictionary entry overview: What does giant mean? 

GIANT (noun)
  The noun GIANT has 7 senses:

1. any creature of exceptional sizeplay

2. a person of exceptional importance and reputationplay

3. an unusually large enterpriseplay

4. a very large person; impressive in size or qualitiesplay

5. someone or something that is abnormally large and powerfulplay

6. an imaginary figure of superhuman size and strength; appears in folklore and fairy talesplay

7. a very bright star of large diameter and low density (relative to the Sun)play

  Familiarity information: GIANT used as a noun is common.


GIANT (adjective)
  The adjective GIANT has 1 sense:

1. of great mass; huge and bulkyplay

  Familiarity information: GIANT used as an adjective is very rare.


 Dictionary entry details 


GIANT (noun)


Sense 1

Meaning:

Any creature of exceptional size

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("giant" is a kind of...):

animal; animate being; beast; brute; creature; fauna (a living organism characterized by voluntary movement)

Derivation:

giant (of great mass; huge and bulky)

gigantic (so exceedingly large or extensive as to suggest a giant or mammoth)


Sense 2

Meaning:

A person of exceptional importance and reputation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

behemoth; colossus; giant; heavyweight; titan

Hypernyms ("giant" is a kind of...):

important person; influential person; personage (a person whose actions and opinions strongly influence the course of events)


Sense 3

Meaning:

An unusually large enterprise

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Context example:

Walton built a retail giant

Hypernyms ("giant" is a kind of...):

enterprise (an organization created for business ventures)

Derivation:

gigantic (so exceedingly large or extensive as to suggest a giant or mammoth)


Sense 4

Meaning:

A very large person; impressive in size or qualities

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

giant; heavyweight; hulk; whale

Hypernyms ("giant" is a kind of...):

large person (a person of greater than average size)

Derivation:

giant (of great mass; huge and bulky)

gigantic (so exceedingly large or extensive as to suggest a giant or mammoth)


Sense 5

Meaning:

Someone or something that is abnormally large and powerful

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

behemoth; colossus; giant; goliath; monster

Hypernyms ("giant" is a kind of...):

anomaly; unusual person (a person who is unusual)

Derivation:

giant (of great mass; huge and bulky)

gigantic (so exceedingly large or extensive as to suggest a giant or mammoth)


Sense 6

Meaning:

An imaginary figure of superhuman size and strength; appears in folklore and fairy tales

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("giant" is a kind of...):

imaginary being; imaginary creature (a creature of the imagination; a person that exists only in legends or myths or fiction)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "giant"):

Argus ((Greek mythology) a giant with 100 eyes; was guardian of the heifer Io and was slain by Hermes)

Cyclops ((Greek mythology) one of a group of giants having a single eye in the middle of their forehead)

giantess (a female giant)

ogre ((folklore) a giant who likes to eat human beings)

Jotun; Jotunn ((Norse mythology) one of a group of giants often in conflict with the Aesir)

Mimir ((Norse mythology) giant who lives in the roots of Yggdrasil and guards the well of wisdom)

Derivation:

giant (of great mass; huge and bulky)

gigantic (so exceedingly large or extensive as to suggest a giant or mammoth)


Sense 7

Meaning:

A very bright star of large diameter and low density (relative to the Sun)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

giant; giant star

Hypernyms ("giant" is a kind of...):

star ((astronomy) a celestial body of hot gases that radiates energy derived from thermonuclear reactions in the interior)

Instance hyponyms:

Arcturus (the 4th brightest star and the brightest star in the constellation Bootes; 36 light-years from Earth)

Capella (the brightest star in Auriga)


GIANT (adjective)


Sense 1

Meaning:

Of great mass; huge and bulky

Synonyms:

elephantine; gargantuan; giant; jumbo

Context example:

jumbo shrimp

Similar:

big; large (above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent)

Derivation:

giant (any creature of exceptional size)

giant (an imaginary figure of superhuman size and strength; appears in folklore and fairy tales)

giant (someone or something that is abnormally large and powerful)

giant (a very large person; impressive in size or qualities)


 Context examples 


It is a multinodular poorly circumscribed tumor, characterized by the presence of multinucleated giant cells, mononuclear histiocyte-like cells, and spindle fibroblast-like cells arranged in a plexiform pattern.

(Chest Wall Plexiform Fibrohistiocytic Neoplasm, NCI Thesaurus)

The giants were terrified, they were afraid that he would strike them all dead, and ran away in a great hurry.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

It is characterized by the presence of spindle-shaped or stellate chondrocytes, a lobulated growth pattern, myxoid stroma formation, and sometimes multinucleated giant cells.

(Chondromyxoid Fibroma, NCI Thesaurus)

Additional features are lymphoid or lymphoplasmacytic infiltrates and, less frequently, scattered syncytiotrophoblastic giant cells.

(Central Nervous System Germinoma, NCI Thesaurus/Adapted from WHO)

South Korean electronics giant Samsung says it will no longer manufacture its troubled Galaxy Note 7 smartphone after numerous reports around the globe of overheating.

(Samsung Ends Production of Problem-Plagued Galaxy Note 7, Voanews)

Far in the western hemisphere, scientists on NASA’s New Horizons mission have discovered what looks like a giant “bite mark” on Pluto’s surface.

(What’s Eating at Pluto?, NASA)

The diagnosis requires the identification of cytotrophoblastic elements, as well as syncitiotrophoblastic giant cells.

(Central Nervous System Choriocarcinoma, NCI Thesaurus/WHO)

The behavior of this subtype of fibromyxoid sarcoma is identical to low grade fibromyxoid sarcoma with giant collagen rosettes.

(Classical Low Grade Fibromyxoid Sarcoma, NCI Thesaurus)

The tumor is composed of round or oval mononuclear cells and uniformly distributed osteoclast-like giant cells.

(Benign Giant Cell Tumor of Bone, NCI Thesaurus)

The find could help researchers better figure out how the giant creatures actually looked before they became extinct some 160 million years ago.

(Dinosaur Tail Found in Myanmar, VOA News)



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