| English Dictionary |
BIG (bigger, biggest)
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
, biggest Dictionary entry overview: What does big mean?
• BIG (adjective)
The adjective BIG has 13 senses:
1. above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent
2. significant
3. very intense
4. loud and firm
5. conspicuous in position or importance
6. prodigious
7. exhibiting self-importance
8. feeling self-importance
9. (of animals) fully developed
10. marked by intense physical force
11. generous and understanding and tolerant
12. given or giving freely
13. in an advanced stage of pregnancy
Familiarity information: BIG used as an adjective is familiar.
• BIG (adverb)
The adverb BIG has 4 senses:
1. extremely well
2. in a boastful manner
3. on a grand scale
4. in a major way
Familiarity information: BIG used as an adverb is uncommon.
Dictionary entry details
| Declension: comparative and superlative |
Superlative: biggest
Sense 1
Meaning:
Above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent
Synonyms:
big; large
Context example:
large areas of the world
Similar:
medium-large (of anything that is large but not the largest)
banging; humongous; thumping; walloping; whopping ((used informally) very large)
massive (imposing in scale or scope or degree or power)
massive; monolithic; monumental (imposing in size or bulk or solidity)
man-sized (very large; appropriate to the size of a man)
macro (very large in scale or scope or capability)
macroscopic; macroscopical (large enough to be visible with the naked eye)
full-size; life-size; life-sized; lifesize (being of the same size as an original)
large-scale (constructed or drawn to a big scale)
large-scale (unusually large in scope)
large-mouthed (having a relatively large mouth)
king-size; king-sized (extra large)
monstrous (abnormally large)
mountainous (like a mountain in size and impressiveness)
outsize; outsized; oversize; oversized (larger than normal for its kind)
overlarge; too large (excessively large)
plumping (very large; of exceptional size for its kind)
queen-size; queen-sized ((used especially of beds) not as large as king-size)
rangy (allowing ample room for ranging)
super (extremely large)
titanic (of great force or power)
volumed (formed or rising in rounded masses)
voluminous (large in volume or bulk)
whacking ((British informal) enormous)
wide-ranging (including much)
Brobdingnagian; huge; immense; vast (unusually great in size or amount or degree or especially extent or scope)
ample; sizable; sizeable (fairly large in size)
astronomic; astronomical; galactic (inconceivably large)
bear-sized (large as a bear)
bigger; larger (large or big relative to something else)
biggish; largish (somewhat large)
blown-up; enlarged (as of a photograph; made larger)
bouffant; puffy (being puffed out; used of hair style or clothing)
broad; spacious; wide (very large in expanse or scope)
bulky (of large size for its weight)
capacious (large in capacity)
colossal; prodigious; stupendous (so great in size or force or extent as to elicit awe)
double (large enough for two)
hulking; hulky (of great size and bulk)
grand (large and impressive in physical size or extent)
great (relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind)
gigantic; mammoth (so exceedingly large or extensive as to suggest a giant or mammoth)
extended; extensive (large in spatial extent or range or scope or quantity)
epic; heroic; larger-than-life (very imposing or impressive; surpassing the ordinary (especially in size or scale))
elephantine; gargantuan; giant; jumbo (of great mass; huge and bulky)
cosmic (inconceivably extended in space or time)
enormous; tremendous (extraordinarily large in size or extent or amount or power or degree)
deep (large in quantity or size)
Attribute:
size (the physical magnitude of something (how big it is))
Antonym:
little (limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent)
Derivation:
bigness (the property of having a relatively great size)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Significant
Context example:
graduation was a big day in his life
Similar:
important; of import (of great significance or value)
Domain usage:
colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Very intense
Synonyms:
bad; big
Context example:
a bad storm
Similar:
intense (possessing or displaying a distinctive feature to a heightened degree)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Loud and firm
Context example:
big bold piano sounds
Similar:
loud (characterized by or producing sound of great volume or intensity)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Conspicuous in position or importance
Synonyms:
Context example:
a prominent citizen
Similar:
conspicuous (obvious to the eye or mind)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Prodigious
Synonyms:
big; heavy
Context example:
heavy investor
Similar:
intemperate (excessive in behavior)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Exhibiting self-importance
Synonyms:
big; boastful; braggart; bragging; braggy; cock-a-hoop; crowing; self-aggrandising; self-aggrandizing
Context example:
big talk
Similar:
proud (feeling self-respect or pleasure in something by which you measure your self-worth; or being a reason for pride)
Sense 8
Meaning:
Feeling self-importance
Synonyms:
big; swelled; vainglorious
Context example:
he was swelled with pride
Similar:
proud (feeling self-respect or pleasure in something by which you measure your self-worth; or being a reason for pride)
Sense 9
Meaning:
(of animals) fully developed
Synonyms:
adult; big; full-grown; fully grown; grown; grownup
Context example:
a grown woman
Similar:
mature (having reached full natural growth or development)
Domain category:
animal; animate being; beast; brute; creature; fauna (a living organism characterized by voluntary movement)
Sense 10
Meaning:
Marked by intense physical force
Context example:
a big wind
Similar:
heavy (of great intensity or power or force)
Sense 11
Meaning:
Generous and understanding and tolerant
Synonyms:
big; large; magnanimous
Context example:
magnanimous toward his enemies
Similar:
generous (not petty in character and mind)
Sense 12
Meaning:
Given or giving freely
Synonyms:
big; bighearted; bounteous; bountiful; freehanded; giving; handsome; liberal; openhanded
Context example:
her fond and openhanded grandfather
Similar:
generous (willing to give and share unstintingly)
Sense 13
Meaning:
In an advanced stage of pregnancy
Synonyms:
big; enceinte; expectant; gravid; great; heavy; large; with child
Context example:
was great with child
Similar:
pregnant (carrying developing offspring within the body or being about to produce new life)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Extremely well
Context example:
his performance went over big
Sense 2
Meaning:
In a boastful manner
Synonyms:
big; boastfully; large; vauntingly
Context example:
he talked big all evening
Sense 3
Meaning:
On a grand scale
Context example:
think big
Antonym:
small (on a small scale)
Sense 4
Meaning:
In a major way
Context example:
the play failed big at the box office
Context examples
But you're able to hear, I reckon; leastways, your ears is big enough.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
The universe is making a big, positive, and encouraging shift this month, and you will see a change in emphasis.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
The weather being very warm, the closet-window was left open, as well as the windows and the door of my bigger box, in which I usually lived, because of its largeness and conveniency.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
The thing is big—the biggest I've ever done.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
He had spread out his big map of London and leaned eagerly over it.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
He is a big, powerful chap, clean-shaven, and very swarthy— something like Aldridge, who helped us in the bogus laundry affair.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Lestrade’s bulldog features gazed out at us from the front window, and he greeted us warmly when a big constable had opened the door and let us in.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
For most people with cancer, living with the disease is the biggest challenge they have ever faced.
(Cancer--Living with Cancer, NIH: National Cancer Institute)
They will be a big part of your child's life.
(Child Care, NIH)
There can be big differences in height, weight, and build among healthy children.
(Child Development, NIH)
| Learn English with... Proverbs |
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