Bigness

big  (bg)

adj. big·ger, big·gest

1. Of considerable size, number, quantity, magnitude, or extent; large. See Synonyms at large.

2.

a. Of great force; strong: a big wind; in a big rage.

b. Obsolete Of great strength.

3.

a. Mature or grown-up: big enough to take the bus by herself.

b. Older or eldest. Used especially of a sibling: My big brother is leaving for college next week.

4. Pregnant: big with child.

5. Filled up; brimming over: felt big with love.

6. Having or exercising considerable authority, control, or influence: a big official; a big chief.

7. Conspicuous in position, wealth, or importance; prominent: a big figure in the peace movement.

8. Of great significance; momentous: a big decision; a big victory.

9. Informal Widely liked, used, or practiced; popular: "For public opinion . . . has grown harsh and yuppie-bashing is big" (Sally Jacobs).

10. Informal Self-important; cocky: You're too big for your own good.

11. Loud and firm; resounding: a big voice.

12. Bountiful; generous: had a big heart.

adv.

1. In a pretentious or boastful way: talked big about the new job.

2. Informal

a. With considerable success: made it big with their recent best-selling album.

b. In a thorough or unmistakable way; emphatically: failed big at the box office.

Idiom:

big on

Enthusiastic about; partial to: "The Japanese are big on ranking things and deciding which is Number One" (James Fallows).

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[Middle English, perhaps of Scandinavian origin.]

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biggish adj.

bigly adv.

bigness n.

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Bigness 

See Also: FATNESS, PHYSICAL APPEARANCE, TALLNESS

1. Ample as a fat man’s waistline —Anon
2. As large as life —Maria Edgeworth
3. As large as life and twice as natural —Anon

   While this is most commonly attributed to Lewis Carroll, who used it in Through the Looking Glass in 1873, Stevenson’s Proverbs, Maxims and Famous Phrases includes an earlier (though likely not the earliest) source, Cuthbert Bede’s 1853 work, Verdant Green.

4. Big as a braggart’s mouth —Anon
5. Big as a den bear —Richard Ford
6. Big as a draft animal —William Brammer
7. Big as all out of doors —Anon
8. [A man] big as an express train —T. Coraghessan Boyle
9. (Bombers) big as bowling alleys —Marge Piercy
10. A big man, filling the chair like a great mound of wheat —H.R.F. Keating
11. Great as man’s ambition —Dame Edith Sitwell
12. Huge as a planet —Lord Byron
13. Huge as mountains —Walter Savage Landor
14. Immense as whales —Sir William Davenant
15. Large as a log of maple —Refrain from “Yankee Doodle,” early American folk song
16. (My disappointment) large as capsized tugs —Richard Eberhart
17. A large business organization is like a damn big dragon. You kick it in the tail, and two years later, it feels it in the head —Frederick Kappell, Look, August 28, 1962

    Kappell, chairman of American Telephone and Telegraph, began his comparison with “The Bell System is …” instead of the more general phrase used here.

    See Also: BUSINESS

18. A list big as a comedian’s gag file —Anon
19. Over-sized like a clown’s shoes —Anon
20. She’s big as a damned barn and tough as knife metal —Ken Kesey

    See Also: TOUGHNESS

21. She was big as three women —Ernest Hemingway
22. Vast as water —Madeleine L’Engle
23. Vast like the inside of a Pharaoh’s tomb —Arthur A. Cohen

    In Cohen’s novel, In the Days of Simon Stern, the comparison describes New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

bigness - the property of having a relatively great size largeness size - the physical magnitude of something (how big it is); "a wolf is about the size of a large dog" ampleness - the property of impressive largeness in size; "he admired the ampleness of its proportions" bulkiness, massiveness - an unwieldy largeness immenseness, immensity, sizeableness, vastness, enormousness, grandness, greatness, wideness - unusual largeness in size or extent or number commodiousness, spaciousness, capaciousness, roominess - spatial largeness and extensiveness (especially inside a building); "the capaciousness of Santa's bag astounded the child"; "roominess in this size car is always a compromise"; "his new office lacked the spaciousness that he had become accustomed to" voluminosity, voluminousness, fullness - greatness of volume giantism, gigantism - excessive largeness of stature littleness, smallness - the property of having a relatively small size