Big Three

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -iː

Proper noun

the Big Three

1. (UK, history) The World War II military alliance consisting of the Soviet Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
2. (UK, history) The leaders of that World War II military alliance: Joseph Stalin, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.
3. Any group of three major or largest corporations in a given industry, especially when such a small group has oligopoly or near-oligopoly; as:
   1. (US) The three major traditional commercial broadcast television networks in the United States: CBS (the Columbia Broadcasting System), NBC (the National Broadcasting Company), and ABC (the American Broadcasting Company)
   2. (US, historical) During the mid- to late twentieth century, the three biggest automaker corporations in North America: General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler.
4. (economics) China, Japan, and Korea, three major Asian economies.
5. (exercise) The deadlift, squat and benchpress.
   • 2021 July 9, Sakdirat Kaewunruen, Junhui Huang, Jordan Haslam, “Insights into noise and vibration stemming from the gym’s heavy lifting”, in Sport Sciences for Health, volume 18, →DOI, pages 277–286:

     The Squat, Deadlift, and Bench Press are widely accepted to be the ‘Big Three’ powerlifting exercises by strength and conditioning experts.

Coordinate terms

• Big One/big one, big two, Big Four, big five, big six, big eight

See also

• big business