Meaning of big In English

• 0 large in size or amount:

  • He's a big man.

  • Could I try these shoes in a bigger size?

  • They have a big house in the country.

  • She has blonde hair and big blue eyes.

  • She had a big pay rise.

  • I had a great big slice of chocolate cake for dessert.

  • A thousand people took part in the region's biggest ever cycle race.

  • informal You write August with a big (= capital) "a".

  • informal She's always been a big spender (= she has always spent a lot of money).

  • informal You're not a very big eater, are you? (= You do not eat a lot.)

  • Her big (= older) sister/brother told her to go away.

  • I'm ashamed of you. You're big enough to know better (= at an age where you should know that your behaviour is not acceptable).

  • You're a big bully!

  • He fell for her in a big way (= was greatly attracted to her).

• 1 important, because of being powerful, or having a lot of influence or a serious effect:

  • He had a big decision to make.

  • There's a big difference between starting up a business and just talking about it.

  • The big story in the news this week is the mayor's resignation.

  • The four biggest banks are all planning to cut their service charges.

  • They're big in Japan, but no one's heard of them here.

  • Hip-hop is still big today.

• 2 large in size or amount:

  • a big ant/man/building/city

  • Do you have these shoes in a bigger size?

  • He tried to impress his friends by using big words.

  • She got a big raise.

  • I had a great big slice of chocolate cake.

  • This is the region’s biggest bicycle race.

  • a big spender/eater

  • a big sister/brother

  • You’re a big bully!

• 3 important, because of being powerful, influential, or having a serious effect:

  • He had a big decision to make about his future.

  • There’s a big difference between starting up a business and just talking about it.

  • The big story in the news this week is the blizzard in the Midwest.

  • We just bought a house, so today’s a big day for us.

  • Those toys are very big in Japan.

• 4 describing a bank that is so important to the economy of a country that the government will give it public money to prevent it from failing. This happened with many big banks between 2008-2009. :

  • UK taxpayers funded banks thought too big to fail to the tune of billions of pounds, which makes the latest round of public spending cuts very hard to take.

  • Who was it said that if a bank is too big to fail, it's too big?