large

Less common meanings

4. 4
   a thousandnounslangcountable or uncountable

   A sum of one thousand dollars or pounds.

   They paid him fifty large to keep quiet about the deal.

   The watch set her back three large.

   UsageFollows a number and stays the same, like grand: fifty large, ten large.

   Similargrand

   Note

   Stephen King's Needful Things (1991) and David Simon's The Wire (2008) both give it to hard characters talking about money they want. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

   • Stephen King wrote Needful Things, first published in 1991. stephenking.com
   • David Simon created The Wire. en.wikipedia.org
   • The cited money-slang example occurs in a 2008 episode, Unconfirmed Reports; 2008 is the example's date, not the series premiere year. en.wikipedia.org
   • In Needful Things, Dave uses 'eighty-five large' when demanding money owed by Ace. en.wiktionary.org
   • In The Wire, Avon Barksdale uses 'a hundred large' when demanding payment to his sister. en.wiktionary.org
5. 5
   adjectivearchaic

   Of a statement or account, full and detailed; copious to the point of being diffuse.

   I might be very large upon the importance and advantages of education.

   1711, Henry Felton, Dissertation on Reading the Classics

   Note

   The word could describe a speaker as well as a speech. Henry Felton's Dissertation on Reading the Classics (1713) offers "I might be very large upon the importance and advantages of education": he could hold forth at length. The construction is be large upon a subject. Malory's "a large answer" in Le Morte Darthur (1485) is a full one. The use is archaic; at length does the work today. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

   • Henry Felton uses the quoted words in his Dissertation, illustrating large applied to a person and the construction be large upon a subject. en.wikisource.org
   • The first edition was published in 1713; its title page states that it was written in 1709. en.wikisource.org
   • Thomas Malory's Le Morte Darthur contains the phrase a large answer. gutenberg.org
   • Le Morte Darthur was first published in 1485. searcharchives.bl.uk
   • Large in Malory's phrase means full in statement. en.wiktionary.org
6. 6
   adjectiveobsolete

   Free; unencumbered; at liberty.

   Of burdens all he set the Paynims large.

   1600, [Torquato Tasso], Godfrey of Bulloigne

   Note

   Edward Fairfax's 1600 translation of Tasso shows the construction: "Of burdens all he set the Paynims large," meaning he freed the pagans of every burden. Like free, the word takes of for whatever one is released from. The use is obsolete. A reader who meets it in older verse should read "free," not "big." Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

   • Edward Fairfax translated Tasso's poem. gutenberg.org
   • Fairfax's translation was first published in 1600. celm.folger.edu
   • The translation contains the quoted line, with of introducing the burdens from which the Paynims are released. gutenberg.org
   • Large here means free or unencumbered. en.wiktionary.org
7. 7
   adjectiveobsolete

   Of language, unrestrained by decorum; coarse or improperly free.

   Some large jests he will make.

   1598, William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”

   Note

   Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing has "Some large jests he will make": jokes that go past the bounds of polite talk. They are not many jokes or grand ones. Keep it distinct from the long-winded sense: a large jest is too free, not too long. The use is obsolete, so modern writing wants broad, coarse or risqué. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

   • Much Ado About Nothing is by William Shakespeare. gutenberg.org
   • The quoted words occur in the play, spoken by Don Pedro about Benedick in Act 2, scene 3. folger.edu
   • Large here means unrestrained or indecorous, rather than numerous or grand. en.wiktionary.org
   • The indecorous-language sense is distinct from the diffuse or long-winded sense. en.wiktionary.org
8. 8
   nounobsoletecountable or uncountable

   Liberality; generosity; the disposition to give freely.

   Note

   Here the word names a virtue rather than a size. It keeps the giving side of Latin largus, "abundant, plentiful, bountiful," which runs through the whole word. Because this noun sense is obsolete, most modern readers will not recognize it, and liberality or generosity says the same thing plainly. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

   • Large has an obsolete noun sense meaning liberality or generosity. en.wiktionary.org
   • Large ultimately derives from Latin largus. en.wiktionary.org
   • Latin largus means abundant or plentiful and also has meanings connected with generous giving. en.wiktionary.org
9. 9
   music notenounobsoletecountable or uncountable

   In early music notation, the longest note value, also called a maxima, usually equal to two longas (four breves), though some notations made it three.

   Similarmaxima

   Note

   Early notation had a ladder of note names, and this is the top rung, with the longa, the breve and the semibreve below it. Its exact length depended on the notation: usually two longas, occasionally three. The same value goes by maxima, and modern terms call it an octuple whole note. Large is the British name, and maxima is the term most writing on early music uses. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • The large or maxima was the longest note value in early mensural notation. lilypond.org
   • The longa, breve and semibreve were successively smaller note values. music-encoding.org
   • Its duration depended on the notation and was usually two longas, occasionally three. en.wikipedia.org
   • Large, maxima and octuple whole note name the same note value. en.wikipedia.org
10. 10
    adjective

    Of the wind, crossing a ship's course in a favorable direction, blowing from abeam or between the beam and the quarter.
11. 11
    adverb

    Of a sailing vessel, with the wind blowing from behind or over the quarter, rather than from ahead.