[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/big/)

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# big

adjective (big, bigger, biggest)

«big» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. Big means large in size or amount: a big dog. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/big/#m1)
2. Big means important or serious: a big day, a big mistake. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/big/#m2)
3. Big means older: my big sister. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/big/#m3)
4. Bigger means larger than another; biggest means larger than all the others. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/big/#m4)

### In the lessons

how large a difference is; the larger of two numbers («subtract the smaller from the bigger one»); in everyday life «big brother», «a big deal», «think big»; in science comparing sizes of animals and planets

### Examples

- Here the word «more» does not mean adding: it asks how big the difference is. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/big/#x1)
- We always subtract the smaller number from the bigger one. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/big/#x2)
- A big box holds 24 crayons and a small box holds 8. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/big/#x3)
- An elephant is bigger than a horse. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/big/#x4)
- Jupiter is the biggest planet. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/big/#x5)
- Tomorrow is a big day: the school play! [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/big/#x6)
- My big brother helps me with homework. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/big/#x7)
- Which number is bigger, 45 or 54? [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/big/#x8)
- "Was he as big as this?" [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/big/#x9)

### Note

In subtraction start from the bigger number and take the smaller one away. Trap: a «big box» describes size, not an operation. Spelling: double g in bigger, biggest. Opposite: small, little.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «big» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/big/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«big» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/big.html) on Mova free.