"Big Four" meaning in All languages combined

See Big Four on Wiktionary

Proper name [English]

Forms: the Big Four [canonical, plural], Big 4 [alternative]
Head templates: {{en-proper noun|p|def=1|head=Big Four}} the Big Four pl (plural only)
  1. (historical) The four top Allied powers of World War I and their leaders: David Lloyd George of Britain, Georges Clemenceau of France, Vittorio Emanuele Orlando of Italy and Woodrow Wilson of the United States, who met at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 at Versailles. Tags: historical, plural, plural-only Synonyms: Council of Four, The Four Nations
    Sense id: en-Big_Four-en-name-8t7COTaD Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English pluralia tantum, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Apple Inc., Four Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 25 6 11 11 10 7 10 20 Disambiguation of English pluralia tantum: 26 8 9 11 11 8 13 15 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 29 3 12 10 8 7 10 22 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 30 5 12 9 7 7 9 21 Disambiguation of Apple Inc.: 26 5 8 12 15 9 9 15 Disambiguation of Four: 24 11 5 12 12 12 12 12
  2. A group of four entrepreneurs who formed the Central Pacific Railroad. Tags: plural, plural-only
    Sense id: en-Big_Four-en-name-BS0xG7VK
  3. (music) A jazz rhythm derived from the marching band beat. Tags: plural, plural-only
    Sense id: en-Big_Four-en-name-VO3TgxVu Categories (other): Music Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music
  4. Any group of four major or largest corporations in a given industry, especially when such a small group has oligopoly or near-oligopoly; as:
    (finance) The four largest banks in any of various countries, or (internationally) the Federal Reserve, People's Bank of China, Bank of Japan, and European Central Bank.
    Tags: plural, plural-only
    Sense id: en-Big_Four-en-name-rtho7ZKU Categories (other): Finance Topics: business, finance
  5. Any group of four major or largest corporations in a given industry, especially when such a small group has oligopoly or near-oligopoly; as:
    (finance, business, technology) The four largest corporations of Big Tech during the 2000s–2020s, usually defined as Alphabet (f.k.a. Google), Meta (f.k.a. Facebook), Amazon, and Apple.
    Tags: plural, plural-only Synonyms: Gang of Four
    Sense id: en-Big_Four-en-name-en:Big_Tech Categories (other): Business, Finance, Technology, Google Disambiguation of Google: 14 5 5 10 41 8 9 8 Topics: business, engineering, finance, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, technology
  6. Any group of four major or largest corporations in a given industry, especially when such a small group has oligopoly or near-oligopoly; as:
    (business, accounting) The four largest global auditing firms, comprising Deloitte, Ernst & Young (EY), KPMG, and PwC.
    Tags: plural, plural-only
    Sense id: en-Big_Four-en-name-M5bof8SQ Categories (other): Accounting, Business Topics: accounting, business, finance
  7. Any group of four major or largest corporations in a given industry, especially when such a small group has oligopoly or near-oligopoly; as:
    (UK, historical) The four largest railway companies in the United Kingdom in the period 1923–1947: the Great Western Railway (GWR); the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS); the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER); and the Southern Railway (SR).
    Tags: UK, historical, plural, plural-only
    Sense id: en-Big_Four-en-name-uCf~P~r4 Categories (other): British English
  8. Any group of four major or largest corporations in a given industry, especially when such a small group has oligopoly or near-oligopoly; as:
    (fashion) The clothing trade shows (“fashion week”) in Paris, London, New York, and Milan.
    Tags: plural, plural-only
    Sense id: en-Big_Four-en-name-e9lpXGdL Categories (other): Fashion Topics: fashion, lifestyle
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Related terms: big business Coordinate_terms: Big One, big one, big two, Big Three, big five, big six, big eight

Alternative forms

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          "text": "In several respects, the conditions which prevailed when this great venture was begun differed greatly from those in which the \"Big Four\" companies had embarked upon their previous regime in 1923.",
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        "en:Business",
        "en:Finance",
        "en:Technology"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any group of four major or largest corporations in a given industry, especially when such a small group has oligopoly or near-oligopoly; as:",
        "The four largest corporations of Big Tech during the 2000s–2020s, usually defined as Alphabet (f.k.a. Google), Meta (f.k.a. Facebook), Amazon, and Apple."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "corporation",
          "corporation"
        ],
        [
          "industry",
          "industry"
        ],
        [
          "oligopoly",
          "oligopoly"
        ],
        [
          "finance",
          "finance#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "business",
          "business"
        ],
        [
          "technology",
          "technology"
        ],
        [
          "Big Tech",
          "Big Tech"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "Any group of four major or largest corporations in a given industry, especially when such a small group has oligopoly or near-oligopoly; as:",
        "(finance, business, technology) The four largest corporations of Big Tech during the 2000s–2020s, usually defined as Alphabet (f.k.a. Google), Meta (f.k.a. Facebook), Amazon, and Apple."
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:Big Tech"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "Gang of Four"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "plural",
        "plural-only"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "business",
        "engineering",
        "finance",
        "natural-sciences",
        "physical-sciences",
        "technology"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "en:Accounting",
        "en:Business"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              134,
              142
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2023 November 4, Stephen Foley, Michael O'Dwyer, “Engineer pulls off structural change to lead Big Four firm”, in FT Weekend, page 13:",
          "text": "That earned him a professional license he would need if he wanted to rise to the role of US senior partner at PwC, where he leads the Big Four firm's global advisory business and is co-head of its US consulting practice.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any group of four major or largest corporations in a given industry, especially when such a small group has oligopoly or near-oligopoly; as:",
        "The four largest global auditing firms, comprising Deloitte, Ernst & Young (EY), KPMG, and PwC."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "corporation",
          "corporation"
        ],
        [
          "industry",
          "industry"
        ],
        [
          "oligopoly",
          "oligopoly"
        ],
        [
          "business",
          "business"
        ],
        [
          "accounting",
          "accounting#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "auditing",
          "auditing"
        ],
        [
          "EY",
          "EY"
        ],
        [
          "KPMG",
          "KPMG"
        ],
        [
          "PwC",
          "PwC"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "Any group of four major or largest corporations in a given industry, especially when such a small group has oligopoly or near-oligopoly; as:",
        "(business, accounting) The four largest global auditing firms, comprising Deloitte, Ernst & Young (EY), KPMG, and PwC."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "plural",
        "plural-only"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "accounting",
        "business",
        "finance"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "British English",
        "English terms with historical senses",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              128,
              136
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1951 April, D. S. Barrie, “British Railways: A Survey, 1948-1950”, in Railway Magazine, number 600, pages 223-224:",
          "text": "In several respects, the conditions which prevailed when this great venture was begun differed greatly from those in which the \"Big Four\" companies had embarked upon their previous regime in 1923.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any group of four major or largest corporations in a given industry, especially when such a small group has oligopoly or near-oligopoly; as:",
        "The four largest railway companies in the United Kingdom in the period 1923–1947: the Great Western Railway (GWR); the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS); the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER); and the Southern Railway (SR)."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "corporation",
          "corporation"
        ],
        [
          "industry",
          "industry"
        ],
        [
          "oligopoly",
          "oligopoly"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "Any group of four major or largest corporations in a given industry, especially when such a small group has oligopoly or near-oligopoly; as:",
        "(UK, historical) The four largest railway companies in the United Kingdom in the period 1923–1947: the Great Western Railway (GWR); the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS); the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER); and the Southern Railway (SR)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "historical",
        "plural",
        "plural-only"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "en:Fashion"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any group of four major or largest corporations in a given industry, especially when such a small group has oligopoly or near-oligopoly; as:",
        "The clothing trade shows (“fashion week”) in Paris, London, New York, and Milan."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "corporation",
          "corporation"
        ],
        [
          "industry",
          "industry"
        ],
        [
          "oligopoly",
          "oligopoly"
        ],
        [
          "fashion",
          "fashion"
        ],
        [
          "fashion week",
          "fashion week"
        ],
        [
          "Paris",
          "Paris"
        ],
        [
          "London",
          "London"
        ],
        [
          "New York",
          "New York"
        ],
        [
          "Milan",
          "Milan"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "Any group of four major or largest corporations in a given industry, especially when such a small group has oligopoly or near-oligopoly; as:",
        "(fashion) The clothing trade shows (“fashion week”) in Paris, London, New York, and Milan."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "plural",
        "plural-only"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "fashion",
        "lifestyle"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Big Four"
  ],
  "word": "Big Four"
}

Download raw JSONL data for Big Four meaning in All languages combined (8.5kB)

{
  "called_from": "form_description/20250107",
  "msg": "Form tags without form: desc='plural plural-only', tagsets=[('plural', 'plural-only')]",
  "path": [
    "Big Four"
  ],
  "section": "English",
  "subsection": "proper noun",
  "title": "Big Four",
  "trace": ""
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-05-27 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-05-20 using wiktextract (a4e883e and f1c2b61). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.