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like in bulk, capacity, quantity, superficial dimensions, or number of constituent units; big; great; capacious; extensive; -- opposed to small; as, a nlarge horse; a large house or room; a large lake or pool; a large jug or spoon; a large vineyard; a large army; a large city.

at upon, with a motion like that of a lash; as, a whale lashes the sea with his tail. And big waves lash the frighted shores. Dryden.

To go or to be in advance of; to precede; hence, to be foremost or chief among; as, the big sloop led the fleet of yachts; the Guards led the attack; Demosthenes leads the orators of all ages. As Hesperus, that leads the sun his way. Fairfax. And lo ! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest. Leigh Hunt.

The cover of the eye; an eyelid. Shak. Tears, big tears, gushed from the rough soldier's lid. Byron.

Small in size or extent; not big; diminutive; -- opposed to big or large; as, a little body; a little animal; a little piece of ground; a little hill; a little distance; a little child. He sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. Luke xix. 3.

e cabin; a hut; as, an Indian's lodge. Chaucer. Their lodges and their tentis up they gan bigge [to build]. Robert of Brunne. O for a lodge in some vast wilderness! Cowper.

be passed, or which a hook can be hooked into; an eye, as of metal; a staple; a noose; a bight. That the probation bear no hinge, nor loop To hang a doubt on. Shak.

Of large size; big. [Obs.] " Three lusty vessels." Evelyn. Hence, sometimes, pregnant. [Obs. or Prov.]

otherwise than; simply; barely; only. Prize not your life for other ends Than merely to obige your friends. Swift.

To utter with a voice affectedly big or swelling; to speak in a strained or unnaturally sonorous manner. "Mouthing big phrases." Hare. Mouthing out his hollow oes and aes. Tennyson.

Signifying many different things; of manifold meaning; equivocal. "An ambiguous multivocal word." Coleridge. -- n.

opped off. -- Mutton fish (Zoöl.), the American eelpout. See Eelpout. -- Mutton fist, a big brawny fist or hand. [Colloq.] Dryden. -- Mutton monger, a pimp [Low & Obs.] Chapman. -- To return to one's muttons. Etym: [A translation of a phrase from a farce by De Brueys, revenons à nos moutons let us return to our she…

Contracted; of limited scope; illiberal; bigoted; as, a narrow mind; narrow views. "A narrow understanding." Macaulay.

degree, etc.; within a little; almost. [Obs.] A cube and a sphere ... nighly of the same bigness. Locke.

Resembling an oracle in some way, as in solemnity, wisdom, authority, obscurity, ambiguity, dogmatism. They have something venerable and oracular in that unadorned gravity and shortness in the expression. Pope. -- O*rac"u*lar*ly, adv. -- O*rac"u*lar*ness, n.

Hence: To have or be under an obigation to restore, pay, or render (something) in return or compensation for something received; to be indebted in the sum of; as, the subject owes allegiance; the fortunate owe assistance to the unfortunate. The one ought five hundred pence, and the other fifty. Bible (1551). A son owes…

The use of equivocal or ambiguous words. [R.]

To embarrass; to puzzle; to distract; to bewilder; to confuse; to trouble with ambiguity, suspense, or anxiety. "Perplexd beyond self- explication." Shak. We are perplexed, but not in despair. 2 Cor. iv. 8. We can distinguish no general truths, or at least shall be apt to perplex the mind. Locke.

capable of being clearly understood; clear in thought or in expression; not obscure or ambiguous; as, a perspicuous writer; perspicuous statements. "The purpose is perspicuous." Shak. -- Per*spic"u*ous*ly, adv. -- Per*spic"u*ous*ness, n.

swimmer. His charity is a better plank than the faith of an intolerant and bitter-minded bigot. Southey.