See big gun on Wiktionary
{
"forms": [
{
"form": "big guns",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "big gun (plural big guns)",
"name": "en-noun"
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"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
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"name": "Military",
"orig": "en:Military",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "88 7 5",
"kind": "other",
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"name": "Artillery",
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"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
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"bold_text_offsets": [
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20,
28
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],
"ref": "1870 December 2, “The Suez Mail”, in Southland Times, number 1342, New Zealand, page 2:",
"text": "London, Nov. 1: The big guns opened fire on Paris today at mid-day.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
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81,
89
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],
"ref": "1968 March 26, “Battleship begins Viet Tests”, in Evening News, Newburgh, NY, USA, retrieved 2011-08-19, page 1:",
"text": "The smaller crew was possible because the battleship was stripped of all but her big guns.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
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[
80,
88
]
],
"ref": "2008 December 6, William J. Bennett, John Cribb, “Deadly resolve answered attack”, in Daily Courier, USA, retrieved 2011-08-19:",
"text": "The USS West Virginia became one of many symbols of American resolve. . . . Her big guns pounded the enemy at the battles of Leyte Gulf, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A large artillery gun or one of the largest-caliber naval guns (as on a battleship)."
],
"id": "en-big_gun-en-noun-~TDQNB3A",
"links": [
[
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"military"
],
[
"large",
"large"
],
[
"artillery",
"artillery"
],
[
"gun",
"gun"
],
[
"caliber",
"caliber"
],
[
"naval",
"naval"
],
[
"battleship",
"battleship"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(military) A large artillery gun or one of the largest-caliber naval guns (as on a battleship)."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "great gun"
}
],
"topics": [
"government",
"military",
"politics",
"war"
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "14 68 17",
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"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "19 71 10",
"kind": "other",
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"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "16 69 15",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with entries",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
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34,
42
],
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94,
102
]
],
"ref": "1888 June 6, “A Great Day for Big Guns”, in New York Times, retrieved 2011-08-20:",
"text": "This has been a great day for the big guns. This does not refer to Prof. Lummis and the other big guns of the Board of Visitors, for every day is a great one for them.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1957 Aug. 28, Ed Wilks, \"Sports\" (Headline), Park City News (USA), p. 15 (retrieved 20 Aug. 2011)",
"text": "Berra Is Big Gun In Yankee Victory"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
25,
33
]
],
"ref": "2001 June 29, Frank Pellegrini, “Whatever Happened to Military Restructuring?”, in Time:",
"text": "And the administration's big guns — Bush, Cheney, Powell and once-and-current Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld — had the clout to make bold and necessary changes.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
17,
25
]
],
"ref": "2007 March 26, Yuri Wuensch, “Eric Clapton simply masterful”, in canoe.ca, Canada, retrieved 2011-08-20:",
"text": "Clapton kept the big guns for last, finishing the set off with Derek and the Domino's \"Layla\", complete with the haunting instrumentals at song's end.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A person, group, thing, or course of action that is powerful, influential, or particularly effective."
],
"id": "en-big_gun-en-noun-Jaq-kIsf",
"links": [
[
"powerful",
"powerful"
],
[
"influential",
"influential"
],
[
"effective",
"effective"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, by extension, chiefly in the plural) A person, group, thing, or course of action that is powerful, influential, or particularly effective."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "big shot"
},
{
"word": "bigwig"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "baron"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "big cheese"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "big enchilada"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "big gun"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "big kahuna"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "big man"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "big name"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "big noise"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "big shot"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "bigwig"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "big wheel"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "boss"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "grand poobah"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "head honcho"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "heavy hitter"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "heavyweight"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "high muckamuck"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "high muckety-muck"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "king of all one surveys"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "king of the castle"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "king of the hill"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "kingpin"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"tags": [
"US"
],
"word": "macher"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "mayor"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "muckamuck"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "muckety muck"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"tags": [
"masculine",
"usually"
],
"word": "mugwump"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "numero uno"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "poobah"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "rooster"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "somebody"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "top banana"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "top cat"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "top dog"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "top gun"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "very important person"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "VIP"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "wheel"
}
],
"tags": [
"broadly",
"idiomatic",
"in-plural"
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Surfing",
"orig": "en:Surfing",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
32,
40
]
],
"ref": "1966, Bruce Brown, director, The Endless Summer:",
"text": "Special boards are used called \"big guns.\"",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A large surfboard used to ride very large, powerful waves."
],
"id": "en-big_gun-en-noun-9AgGl8Ji",
"links": [
[
"surfing",
"surfing#Noun"
],
[
"surfboard",
"surfboard"
],
[
"powerful",
"powerful"
],
[
"wave",
"wave"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(surfing) A large surfboard used to ride very large, powerful waves."
],
"topics": [
"hobbies",
"lifestyle",
"sports",
"surfing"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "en-au-big gun.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/96/En-au-big_gun.ogg/En-au-big_gun.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/En-au-big_gun.ogg"
}
],
"word": "big gun"
}
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries",
"en:Artillery"
],
"forms": [
{
"form": "big guns",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
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{
"args": {},
"expansion": "big gun (plural big guns)",
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"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
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{
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20,
28
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"ref": "1870 December 2, “The Suez Mail”, in Southland Times, number 1342, New Zealand, page 2:",
"text": "London, Nov. 1: The big guns opened fire on Paris today at mid-day.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
81,
89
]
],
"ref": "1968 March 26, “Battleship begins Viet Tests”, in Evening News, Newburgh, NY, USA, retrieved 2011-08-19, page 1:",
"text": "The smaller crew was possible because the battleship was stripped of all but her big guns.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
80,
88
]
],
"ref": "2008 December 6, William J. Bennett, John Cribb, “Deadly resolve answered attack”, in Daily Courier, USA, retrieved 2011-08-19:",
"text": "The USS West Virginia became one of many symbols of American resolve. . . . Her big guns pounded the enemy at the battles of Leyte Gulf, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A large artillery gun or one of the largest-caliber naval guns (as on a battleship)."
],
"links": [
[
"military",
"military"
],
[
"large",
"large"
],
[
"artillery",
"artillery"
],
[
"gun",
"gun"
],
[
"caliber",
"caliber"
],
[
"naval",
"naval"
],
[
"battleship",
"battleship"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(military) A large artillery gun or one of the largest-caliber naval guns (as on a battleship)."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "great gun"
}
],
"topics": [
"government",
"military",
"politics",
"war"
]
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],
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42
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94,
102
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],
"ref": "1888 June 6, “A Great Day for Big Guns”, in New York Times, retrieved 2011-08-20:",
"text": "This has been a great day for the big guns. This does not refer to Prof. Lummis and the other big guns of the Board of Visitors, for every day is a great one for them.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1957 Aug. 28, Ed Wilks, \"Sports\" (Headline), Park City News (USA), p. 15 (retrieved 20 Aug. 2011)",
"text": "Berra Is Big Gun In Yankee Victory"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
25,
33
]
],
"ref": "2001 June 29, Frank Pellegrini, “Whatever Happened to Military Restructuring?”, in Time:",
"text": "And the administration's big guns — Bush, Cheney, Powell and once-and-current Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld — had the clout to make bold and necessary changes.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
17,
25
]
],
"ref": "2007 March 26, Yuri Wuensch, “Eric Clapton simply masterful”, in canoe.ca, Canada, retrieved 2011-08-20:",
"text": "Clapton kept the big guns for last, finishing the set off with Derek and the Domino's \"Layla\", complete with the haunting instrumentals at song's end.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A person, group, thing, or course of action that is powerful, influential, or particularly effective."
],
"links": [
[
"powerful",
"powerful"
],
[
"influential",
"influential"
],
[
"effective",
"effective"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, by extension, chiefly in the plural) A person, group, thing, or course of action that is powerful, influential, or particularly effective."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "big shot"
},
{
"word": "bigwig"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "baron"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "big cheese"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "big enchilada"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "big gun"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "big kahuna"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "big man"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "big name"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "big noise"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "big shot"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "bigwig"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "big wheel"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "boss"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "grand poobah"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "head honcho"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "heavy hitter"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "heavyweight"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "high muckamuck"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "high muckety-muck"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "king of all one surveys"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "king of the castle"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "king of the hill"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "kingpin"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"tags": [
"US"
],
"word": "macher"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "mayor"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "muckamuck"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "muckety muck"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"tags": [
"masculine",
"usually"
],
"word": "mugwump"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "numero uno"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "poobah"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "rooster"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "somebody"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "top banana"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "top cat"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "top dog"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "top gun"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "very important person"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "VIP"
},
{
"source": "Thesaurus:important person",
"word": "wheel"
}
],
"tags": [
"broadly",
"idiomatic",
"in-plural"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations",
"en:Surfing"
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
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32,
40
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],
"ref": "1966, Bruce Brown, director, The Endless Summer:",
"text": "Special boards are used called \"big guns.\"",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A large surfboard used to ride very large, powerful waves."
],
"links": [
[
"surfing",
"surfing#Noun"
],
[
"surfboard",
"surfboard"
],
[
"powerful",
"powerful"
],
[
"wave",
"wave"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(surfing) A large surfboard used to ride very large, powerful waves."
],
"topics": [
"hobbies",
"lifestyle",
"sports",
"surfing"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
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"audio": "en-au-big gun.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/96/En-au-big_gun.ogg/En-au-big_gun.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/En-au-big_gun.ogg"
}
],
"word": "big gun"
}
Download raw JSONL data for big gun meaning in All languages combined (6.8kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-05-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-05-01 using wiktextract (89ebc88 and e74c913). 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.