Big Screen

–adjective

1.	large, as in size, height, width, or amount: a big house; a big quantity.

2.	of major concern, importance, gravity, or the like: a big problem.

3.	outstanding for a specified quality: a big liar; a big success.

4.	important, as in influence, standing, or wealth: a big man in his field.

5.	grown-up; mature: big enough to know better.

6.	elder: my big sister.

7.	doing business or conducted on a large s c62 cale; major in size or importance: big government.

8.	consisting of the largest or most influential companies in an industry: Big steel wants to lower prices, but the smaller mills don't.

9.	Informal. known or used widely; popular: Nouvelle cuisine became big in the 1970s.

10.	magnanimous; generous; kindly: big enough to forgive.

11.	boastful; pompous; pretentious; haughty: a big talker.

12.	loud; orotund: a big voice.

13.	(of clothing or a clothing design) made of or distinguished by voluminous fabric that is loosely or softly shaped and fitted: a big shirt; the big look.

14.	(of a wine) having more than average flavor, body, and alcoholic content.

15.	filled; brimming: eyes big with tears.

16.	Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. pregnant.

17.	Obsolete. very strong; powerful.

–adverb

18.	Informal. boastfully; pretentiously: to act big; to talk big.

19.	Informal. with great success; successfully: to go over big.

–noun

20.	the bigs, Sports Slang. the highest level of professional competition, as the major leagues in baseball.

—Idioms

21.	be big on, to ha c ve a special 1392 liking or enthusiasm for: Mother is big on family get-togethers.

22.	big with child. great (def. 23).

–noun

1.	a movable or fixed device, usually consisting of a covered frame, that provides shelter, serves as a partition, etc.

2.	a permanent, usually ornamental partition, as around the choir of a church or across the hall of a medieval house.

3.	a specially prepared, light-reflecting surface on which motion pictures, slides, etc., may be projected.

4.	motion pictures collectively or the motion-picture industry.

5.	Electronics, Television. the external surface of the large end of a cathode-ray tube of a television set, radar receiver, etc., on which an electronically created picture or image is formed.

6.	Computers. a. Also called video screen. the portion of a terminal or monitor upon which information is displayed. b. frame (def. 10).

7.	anything that shelters, protects, or conceals: a screen of secrecy; A screen of fog prevented our seeing the ship.

865

8.	a frame holding a mesh of wire, cloth, or plastic, for placing in a window or doorway, around a porch, etc., to admit air but exclude insects.

9.	a sieve, riddle, or other meshlike device used to separate smaller particles or objects from larger ones, as for grain or sand.

10.	a system for screening or grouping people, objects, etc.

11.	Military. a body of troops sent out to protect the movement of an army.

12.	Navy. a protective formation of small vessels, as destroyers, around or in front of a larger ship or ships.

13.	Physics. a shield designed to prevent interference between various agencies: electric screen.

14.	Electronics. screen grid.

15.	Photography. a plate of ground glass or the like on which the image is brought into focus in a camera before being photographed.

16.	Photoengraving. a transparent plate containing two sets of fine parallel lines, one crossing the other, used in the halftone process.

17.

Sports. a. any of various offensive plays in wh 7f1 ich teammates form a protective formation around the ball carrier, pass receiver, shooter, etc. b. any of various defensive plays in which teammates conceal or block an opposing ball carrier, pass receiver, shooter, or the goal, basket, net, etc., itself.

–verb (used with object)

18.	to shelter, protect, or conceal with or as if with a screen.

19.	to select, reject, consider, or group (people, objects, ideas, etc.) by examining systematically: Job applicants were screened by the personnel department.

20.	to provide with a screen or screens to exclude insects: He screened the porch so they could enjoy sitting out on summer evenings.

21.	to sift or sort by passing through a screen.

22.	to project (a motion picture, slide, etc.) on a screen.

23.	Movies. a. to show (a motion picture), esp. to an invited audience, as of exhibitors and critics. b. to photograph with a motion-picture camera; film. c. to adapt (a story, play, etc.) for presentation as a motion picture.

24.	to ligh 3e8 ten (type or areas of a line engraving) by etching a regular pattern of dots or lines into the printing surface.

–verb (used without object)

25.	to be projected on a motion-picture screen.