big
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
From northern Middle English dialect big, bigge (“powerful, strong”), of uncertain origin, possibly from a dialect of Old Norse. Compare bugge (“great man”)
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Adjective
big (comparative bigger, superlative biggest)
- Of great size, large.
- Elephants are big animals, and they eat a lot.
- (of an industry or other field) Thought to have undue influence.
- There were concerns about the ethics of big science.
- 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.
- (informal) Fat.
- Gosh, she is big!
- (informal) Important or significant.
- What's so big about that? I do it all the time.
- 2011 October 29, Neil Johnston, “Norwich 3 - 3 Blackburn”, 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.
- (informal) Mature, conscientious, principled.
- 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.
- (informal) Well-endowed, possessing large breasts in the case of a woman or a large penis in the case of a man.
- Woah, Nadia has gotten pretty big ever since she hit puberty.
[edit] Synonyms
- (of a great size): ample, huge, large, sizeable, jumbo, massive
- (adult): adult, fully grown, grown up
- See also Wikisaurus:big
[edit] Antonyms
[edit] Derived terms
Terms derived from big
[edit] Translations
of a great size
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adult
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[edit] 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
- You've got to think big to succeed at Amalgamated Plumbing.
- Hard.
- He hit him big and the guy just crumpled.
[edit] Noun
big (plural bigs)
- 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”, 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.
- 2004 June 23, Michelle Boorstein, “Ballclub^s Pullout Caps Va. Town^s Run of Woes; Struggling Martinsville No Longer Celebrates Its Boys of Summer”, Washington Post:
[edit] Synonyms
- (big leagues): major leagues
[edit] Verb
big (third-person singular simple present bigs, present participle bigging, simple past and past participle bigged) (up)
- (transitive) To praise or recommend
[edit] Statistics
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Most common English words before 1923: receive · tried · certainly · #554: big · road · husband · blockquote
[edit] Anagrams
[edit] Dutch
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Noun
big m. and f. (plural biggen, diminutive biggetje)
[edit] Irish
[edit] Pronunciation
- IPA: [bʲɪɟ]
[edit] Adjective
big
- genitive singular masculine of beag
| 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. |
|||
[edit] Italian
[edit] Noun
big m. inv.
[edit] Lojban
[edit] Rafsi
big
- Rafsi of bilga.
[edit] Scots
[edit] Etymology
From Old Norse byggja (“inhabit, build”).
[edit] Pronunciation
- IPA: /bɪɡ/
[edit] Verb
tae big (third-person singular simple present bigs, present participle biggin, simple past biggit, past participle biggit)
- to build
[edit] Torres Strait Creole
[edit] Etymology
From English big, cognate with (the first part of) Bislama bikfala, bigfala, Pijin bigfala, Tok Pisin bikpela.
[edit] Adjective
big
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Western Apache
[edit] Pronunciation
- IPA: [pɪ̀k]
[edit] Etymology
From Proto-Athabaskan *-wə̓t̕.
Cognates: Navajo -bid, Plains Apache -bid.
[edit] Noun
big (inalienable, e.g., shibig "my belly", bibig "her/his/their belly")
[edit] Usage notes
- The form -big occurs in the White Mountain varieties; -bid occurs in San Carlos and Dilze’eh (Tonto).
Categories:
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English adjectives
- English informal terms
- English adverbs
- English nouns
- English verbs
- 200 English basic words
- Dutch nouns
- nl:Mammals
- Irish adjectives
- Italian nouns
- Lojban rafsi
- Scots terms derived from Old Norse
- Scots verbs
- Torres Strait Creole terms derived from English
- Torres Strait Creole adjectives
- Western Apache terms derived from Proto-Athabaskan
- Western Apache nouns
