big
English
Pronunciation
- enPR: bĭg, IPA(key): /bɪɡ/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (UK) (file) - Rhymes: -ɪɡ
Etymology 1
From a northern Middle English dialectal term big, bigge (“powerful, strong”), of unknown origin, possibly from a dialect of Old Norse. Compare dialectal Norwegian bugge (“great man”).
Adjective
big (comparative bigger, superlative biggest)
- Of great size, large.
- Elephants are big animals, and they eat a lot.
- 1909, Archibald Marshall [pseudonym; Arthur Hammond Marshall], chapter III, in The Squire’s Daughter, London: Methuen, OCLC 12026604; republished New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1919, OCLC 491297620:
- 2013 July 6, “The rise of smart beta”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8843, page 68:
- Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return.
- (of an industry or other field, often capitalized) Thought to have undue influence.
- There were concerns about the ethics of big pharma.
- Popular.
- That style is very big right now in Europe, especially among teenagers.
- (informal) Adult.
- Kids should get help from big people if they want to use the kitchen.
- 1931, Robert L. May, Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Montgomery Ward (publisher), draft:
- By midnight, however, the last light had fled / For even big people have then gone to bed[.]
- (informal) Fat.
- Gosh, she is big!
- (informal) Important or significant.
- What's so big about that? I do it all the time.
- 1909, Archibald Marshall [pseudonym; Arthur Hammond Marshall], chapter II, in The Squire’s Daughter, London: Methuen, OCLC 12026604; republished New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1919, OCLC 491297620:
- "I was dragged up at the workhouse school till I was twelve. Then I ran away and sold papers in the streets, and anything else that I could pick up a few coppers by—except steal. I never did that. I always made up my mind I'd be a big man some day, and—I'm glad I didn't steal."
- 2011 October 29, Neil Johnston, “Norwich 3-3 Blackburn”, in BBC Sport:
- It proved a big miss as Hoilett produced a sublime finish into the top corner of the net from 20 yards after evading a couple of challenges in first-half stoppage time.
- (informal, with on) Enthusiastic (about).
- I'm not big on the idea, but if you want to go ahead with it, I won't stop you.
- (transitive with of) (informal) Mature, conscientious, principled; generous.
- That's very big of you, thank you!
- I tried to be the bigger person and just let it go, but I couldn't help myself.
- 2011, Joe Pieri, The Big Men, →ISBN:
- So the bloke says, 'Fine, that's real big of you, much appreciated,' and off he goes with Big John back to Ferrari's.
- (informal) Well-endowed, possessing large breasts in the case of a woman or a large penis in the case of a man.
- Whoa, Nadia has gotten pretty big since she hit puberty.
- (sometimes figuratively) Large with young; pregnant; swelling; ready to give birth or produce.
- She was big with child.
- (Can we date this quote?) Joseph Addison (1672–1719)
- [Day] big with the fate of Cato and of Rome.
- (informal) Used as an intensifier, especially of negative-valence nouns
- You are a big liar. Why are you in such a big hurry?
- (of a city) populous
- (informal, slang, of somebody's age) old, mature. Used to imply that somebody is too old for something, or acting immaturely.
- Imagine still watching Pokemon at your big age.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
- Big Apple
- big-ass
- big baby
- big band
- Big Bang
- big bath
- big beat
- Big Ben
- Big Bertha
- big blind
- big bluestem
- Big Board
- big-boned
- big box
- big boy/big boys
- big break
- Big Brother
- big brother
- big bucks
- big business
- big C
- big cat
- big cheese
- Big Crunch
- Big D
- big daddy
- big deal
- Big Dipper
- Big Easy
- big enchilada
- big end
- big fat/big-fat/big phat
- big figure
- big fish
- big fly
- Big Four
- big game
- biggie, no biggie
- big girl's blouse
- big government
- big gun
- big hair
- big hand
- big H/Big H
- big head/big-head
- big-headed
- big-hearted
- Big Horn County
- big house
- big idea
- big if
- big iron
- Big Island
- big kahuna
- big kid
- big labor
- Big Lake
- big-league
- big lick
- big lie
- big lug
- Big Mac
- big money
- big mouth
- Big Muddy
- big name / big-name
- bigness
- big O
- big old/big ole
- big one/the big one
- big O notation
- big pharma
- big picture
- Big Q
- Big Rapids
- big rig
- Big Rip
- big science
- big screen
- big shagbank
- big shot
- big shoulder
- Big Six
- big six/the big six
- big sleep
- big slick
- Big Smoke
- big spender
- big spring
- big stick
- Big Stone County
- Big Sur
- big talk
- big tent
- Big Three
- big-ticket
- Big Timber
- big time/big-time/bigtime
- big toe
- big top/big-top
- big tree
- Big Uglies
- big up
- big wheel
- big whoop
- big wig/big-wig/bigwig
- big-wigged
- big wow
- great big
- hit it big
- make a big thing out of
- make it big
- Mr. Big/Mr Big/Mister Big
- the bigs
- too big for one's boots, too big for one's britches
- too big to fail
Translations
|
|
|
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
|
|
Adverb
big (comparative bigger, superlative biggest)
- In a loud manner.
- In a boasting manner.
- He's always talking big, but he never delivers.
- In a large amount or to a large extent.
- He won big betting on the croquet championship.
- On a large scale, expansively.
- 1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 3, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 25:
- 'You've got to put it over big,' he was saying in a loud nasal voice.
- You've got to think big to succeed at Amalgamated Plumbing.
-
- Hard.
- He hit him big and the guy just crumpled.
Noun
big (plural bigs)
- Someone or something that is large in stature
- An important or powerful person; a celebrity; a big name.
- (as plural) The big leagues, big time.
- 2004 June 23, Michelle Boorstein, “Ballclub^s Pullout Caps Va. Town^s Run of Woes; Struggling Martinsville No Longer Celebrates Its Boys of Summer”, in Washington Post:
- In the Appalachian League, where Cal Ripken once played in Bluefield, W.Va., a ballplayer's chances of making it to the bigs are less than one in six.
-
- (BDSM, slang) The participant in ageplay who acts out the older role.
Synonyms
- (big leagues): major leagues
Antonyms
- (BDSM): little
Verb
big (third-person singular simple present bigs, present participle bigging, simple past and past participle bigged) (up)
Etymology 2
From Middle English biggen, byggen, from Old Norse byggja, byggva (“to build, dwell in, inhabit”), a secondary form of Old Norse búa (“to dwell”), related to Old English būan (“to dwell”). Cognate with Danish bygge, Swedish bygga.
Verb
big (third-person singular simple present bigs, present participle bigging, simple past and past participle bigged)
- (transitive, archaic or Britain dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) to inhabit; occupy
- (reflexive, archaic or Britain dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) to locate oneself
- (transitive, archaic or Britain dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) to build; erect; fashion
- (intransitive, archaic or Britain dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) to dwell; have a dwelling
Etymology 3
From Middle English byge, from Old Norse bygg (“barley, probably Hordeum vulgare, common barley”), from Proto-Germanic *bewwuz (“crop, barley”). Cognate with Old English bēow (“barley”).
Dutch
Etymology
From Middle Dutch bagge, vigge. Originally a word exclusive to the Northern Dutch dialects.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bɪx/
audio (file) - Hyphenation: big
- Rhymes: -ɪx
Derived terms
- biggenkruid
Irish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bʲɪɟ/
Adjective
big
- inflection of beag:
- vocative and genitive masculine singular
- (archaic) dative feminine singular
Mutation
Irish mutation | ||
---|---|---|
Radical | Lenition | Eclipsis |
big | bhig | mbig |
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |
Scots
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bɪɡ/
Torres Strait Creole
Welsh
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /biːɡ/
Western Apache
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [pɪ̀k]
Noun
big (inalienable, e.g., shibig "my belly", bibig "her/his/their belly")
Usage notes
- The form -big occurs in the White Mountain varieties; -bid occurs in San Carlos and Dilzhe’eh (Tonto).