big.
Of great size, large.
Meaning & usage
Of great size, large.
Elephants are big animals, and they eat a lot.
Of great size, large. Fat.
Gosh, she is big!
Large with young; pregnant; swelling; ready to give birth or produce.
She was big with child.
Well-endowed; with a desired body part notably large. Specifically, big-breasted.
Well-endowed; with a desired body part notably large. Having a large penis.
I'm the shortest man on the team but in the gym shower everyone can see that I'm also the biggest.
Well-endowed; with a desired body part notably large. Having large muscles, especially visible ones such as the chest and arm muscles.
I've been lifting weights for a full year now, but I'm finally getting big.
Adult; (of a child) older.
Kids should get help from big people if they want to use the kitchen.
We were just playing, and then some big kids came and chased us away.
Adult; (of a child) older. Old, mature. Used to imply that someone is too old for something, or acting immaturely.
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.
Important or significant.
What's so big about that? I do it all the time.
Popular.
That style is very big right now in Europe, especially among teenagers.
Populous.
Used as an intensifier, especially of negative-valence nouns
You are a big liar. Why are you in such a big hurry?
Operating on a large scale, especially if therefore having undue or sinister influence.
big money
Big Tech, Big Steel
Enthusiastic (about).
I'm not big on the idea, but if you want to go ahead with it, I won't stop you.
Where this word comes from
Inherited from Northern Middle English big, bigge (“powerful, strong”), possibly from a dialect of Old Norse. Ultimately perhaps a derivative of Proto-Germanic *bugja- (“swollen up, thick”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew-, *bu- (“to swell”), in which case big would be related to bogey, bugbear, and bug. Compare dialectal Norwegian bugge (“great man”), Low German Bögge, Boggelmann.
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.
Don't miss our November sale — it's your last chance to save big before Christmas!
In a large amount or to a large extent. (modifying a preposition)
I've always been big into sport, but I'm especially big into football.
On a large scale, expansively.
You've got to think big to succeed at Amalgamated Plumbing.
Hard; with great force.
He hit him big and the guy just crumpled.
Where this word comes from
Inherited from Northern Middle English big, bigge (“powerful, strong”), possibly from a dialect of Old Norse. Ultimately perhaps a derivative of Proto-Germanic *bugja- (“swollen up, thick”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew-, *bu- (“to swell”), in which case big would be related to bogey, bugbear, and bug. Compare dialectal Norwegian bugge (“great man”), Low German Bögge, Boggelmann.
Someone or something that is large in stature.
An important or powerful person; a celebrity; a big name.
The big leagues, big time.
An initiated member of a sorority or fraternity who acts as a mentor to a new member (the little).
The participant in age roleplay who acts out the older role.
Where this word comes from
Inherited from Northern Middle English big, bigge (“powerful, strong”), possibly from a dialect of Old Norse. Ultimately perhaps a derivative of Proto-Germanic *bugja- (“swollen up, thick”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew-, *bu- (“to swell”), in which case big would be related to bogey, bugbear, and bug. Compare dialectal Norwegian bugge (“great man”), Low German Bögge, Boggelmann.
To inhabit; occupy.
To locate oneself.
To build; erect; fashion.
Don't big it up.
To dwell; have a dwelling.
Where this word comes from
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.
One or more kinds of barley, especially six-rowed barley.
Where this word comes from
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”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.