Big
WordNet
adjective
(1) Conspicuous in position or importance
"A big figure in the movement"
"Big man on campus"
"He's very large in financial circles"
"A prominent citizen"
(2) Given or giving freely
"Was a big tipper"
"The bounteous goodness of God"
"Bountiful compliments"
"A freehanded host"
"A handsome allowance"
"Saturday's child is loving and giving"
"A liberal backer of the arts"
"A munificent gift"
"Her fond and openhanded grandfather"
(3) Generous and understanding and tolerant
"A heart big enough to hold no grudges"
"That's very big of you to be so forgiving"
"A large and generous spirit"
"A large heart"
"Magnanimous toward his enemies"
(4) Marked by intense physical force
"A big wind"
(5) Significant
"Graduation was a big day in his life"
(6) Above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent
"A large city"
"Set out for the big city"
"A large sum"
"A big (or large) barn"
"A large family"
"Big businesses"
"A big expenditure"
"A large number of newspapers"
"A big group of scientists"
"Large areas of the world"
(7) Loud and firm
"A big voice"
"Big bold piano sounds"
(8) (of animals) fully developed
"An adult animal"
"A grown woman"
(9) Very intense
"A bad headache"
"In a big rage"
"Had a big (or bad) shock"
"A bad earthquake"
"A bad storm"
(10) Feeling self-importance
"Too big for his britches"
"Had a swelled head"
"He was swelled with pride"
(11) Exhibiting self-importance
"Big talk"
adverb
(12) In a boastful manner
"He talked big all evening"
(13) In a major way
"The play failed big at the box office"
(14) On a grand scale
"Think big"
(15) Extremely well
"His performance went over big"
WiktionaryText
Etymology
From northern dialect , , of uncertain origin, possibly from a dialect of .
Adjective
- Of a great size; large; the weakest sense of great size.
- 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.
- Adult.
- Kids should get help from big people if they want to use the kitchen.
- Fat.
- Gosh, she is big!
- Important or significant.
- What's so big about that? I do it all the time.
- (construed 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.
Synonyms
ample, huge, large, sizeable, jumbo, massive adult, fully grown, grown up- See also Wikisaurus:big