GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

last match results

Found 3 definitions

1.       
   Big (bĭg), a. [Compar. Bigger; superl. Biggest.] [Perh. from Celtic; cf. W. beichiog, beichiawg, pregnant, with child, fr. baich burden, Arm. beac'h; or cf. OE. bygly, Icel. biggiligr, (properly) habitable; (then) magnigicent, excellent, fr. OE. biggen, Icel. byggja, to dwell, build, akin to E. be.]
   1. Having largeness of size; of much bulk or magnitude; of great size; large. “He's too big to go in there.”  Shak.
   
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   2. Great with young; pregnant; swelling; ready to give birth or produce; -- often figuratively.
   
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   [Day] big with the fate of Cato and of Rome. Addison.
   
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   3. Having greatness, fullness, importance, inflation, distention, etc., whether in a good or a bad sense; as, “a big heart; a big voice; big looks; to look big”. As applied to looks, it indicates haughtiness or pride.
   
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   God hath not in heaven a bigger argument. Jer. Taylor.
   
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   ☞ Big is often used in self-explaining compounds; as, big-boned; big-sounding; big-named; big-voiced.
   
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   To talk big, to talk loudly, arrogantly, or pretentiously.
   
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   I talked big to them at first. De Foe.
   
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   Syn. -- Bulky; large; great; massive; gross.
   
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2.       
    Big, Bigg , n. [OE. bif, bigge; akin to Icel. bygg, Dan. byg, Sw. bjugg.] (Bot.) Barley, especially the hardy four-rowed kind.
   
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   “Bear interchanges in local use, now with barley, now with bigg.” New English Dict.
   
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3.       
    Big, Bigg , v. t. [OE. biggen, fr. Icel. byggja to inhabit, to build, ba (neut.) to dwell (active) to make ready. See Boor, and Bound.] To build. [Scot. & North of Eng. Dial.]  Sir W. Scott.
   
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