gross

a gross mistake; gross injustice; gross negligence; a gross insult

Henry IV. My gracious uncle, let me know my fault:
On what condition stands it and wherein?
Edmund of Langley. Even in condition of the worst degree,
In gross rebellion and detested treason:

1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene 3]:

Your very faults, how gross soere, to me
Have something pleasing in ’em.

1682, Aphra Behn, “The City-Heiress”, in et al., London: D. Brown, act IV, scene 1, page 40:

[…] I thank Heaven I have had Time to reflect on my past Life, where though I cannot charge myself with any gross Villainy, yet I can discern Follies and Vices too sufficient to repent and to be ashamed of;

1749, Henry Fielding, chapter 10, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book 18, page 336:

[…] had his actions been what Wickham represented them, so gross a violation of every thing right could hardly have been concealed from the world;

1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], Pride and Prejudice: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC:

[…] he has been found guilty, on the clearest evidence, first, of stealing a valuable motor-car; secondly, of driving to the public danger; and, thirdly, of gross impertinence to the rural police.

1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, chapter 6, in The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC:

(of behaviour considered to be wrong) Highly or conspicuously offensive.

gross domestic product; gross income; gross weight

What is the gross sum that I owe thee?

c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:

For a man of his habits the house and the hundred and twenty pounds a year which he had inherited from his mother were enough to supply all worldly needs. Resources do not depend upon gross amounts, but upon the proportion of spendings to takings.

1878, Thomas Hardy, The Return of the Native, Book 6, Chapter 1:

[…] please notice that even these wretched earnings are gross earnings. On top of this there are all kinds of stoppages which are deducted from the miner’s wages every week.

1937, George Orwell, The Road to Wigan Pier, Penguin, published 1962, Part 1, Chapter 3, p. 37:

(of an amount) Excluding any deductions; including all associated amounts.

Excluding any deductions; including all associated amounts.

gross anatomy

We are accustomed to look for the gross and immediate effect and to ignore all else. Unless this appears promptly and in such obvious form that it cannot be ignored, we deny the existence of hazard.

1962, Rachel Carson, chapter 12, in Silent Spring, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, page 190:

(sciences, pathology) Seen without a microscope (usually for a tissue or an organ); at a large scale; not detailed.

I threw up all over the bed. It was totally gross.

Mary Ann spent her lunch hour at Hastings, picking out just the right tie for Norman. The hint might not be terribly subtle, she decided, but somebody had to do something about that gross, gravy-stained clip-on number.

1978, Armistead Maupin, “Ties That Bind”, in Tales of the City, New York: Harper & Row, published 1989, page 293:

The next-door neighbor’s cat coughed up a hairball one day and the hair was not the cat’s. “That’s so gross!”

2002, Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex, New York: Picador, Book 3, p. 306:

(informal, Canada, US, Australia) Causing disgust.

Pog. Forsooth my Maister said that hee loved her almost as well as hee loved parmasent, and swore [...] that shee wanted such a Nose as his was, to be as pretty a young woeman, as was any in Parma. Do. Oh grose!

c. 1626 or 1629–1633 (first performance), [John Ford], ’Tis Pitty Shee’s a Whore […], London: […] Nicholas Okes for Richard Collins, […], published 1633, →OCLC, Act I:

Verjuice. She certainly has Talents.
Lady Sneerwell. But her manner is gross.

1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, act I, scene 1:

But man to know God is a difficulty, except by a mean he himself inure, which is to know God’s creatures that be: at first them that be of the grossest nature, and then [...] them that be more pure.

1874, A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Dodsley et al.:

All this was extraordinarily distasteful to Churchill. It was ugly, gross. Never before had he felt such repulsion when the vicar displayed his characteristic bluntness or coarseness of speech. In the present connexion—or rather as a transition from the subject that started their conversation—such talk had been distressingly out of place.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

Lacking refinement in behaviour or manner; offending a standard of morality.

The flowers of Rubens are gross and rude […]

1860, John Ruskin, chapter 10, in Modern Painters […], volume V, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, , § 5:

He scorned my wholesome kennel fare, toothing out dainties and leaving the grosser portions to be finished by the other dogs.

1944, Emily Carr, “Lorenzo Was Registered”, in The House of All Sorts:

(of a product) Lacking refinement; not of high quality.

Lacking refinement; not of high quality.

Thy spirit ere our fatal loss
Did ever rise from high to higher;
As mounts the heavenward altar-fire,
As flies the lighter thro’ the gross.

1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XL, page 62:

Kitty noticed that her sister’s pregnancy had blunted her features and in her black dress she looked gross and blousy.

1925, W. Somerset Maugham, chapter 79, in The Painted Veil, London: Heinemann, published 1934:

He collected a number of injuries that stopped him jousting, and then in middle age became stout, eventually gross.

2013, Hilary Mantel, “Royal Bodies”, in London Review of Books, 35.IV:

(of a person) Heavy in proportion to one's height; having a lot of excess flesh.

Couragious Lancaster, imbrace thy king,
And as grosse vapours perish by the sunne,
Euen so let hatred with thy soueraigne smile,

1594, Christopher Marlow[e], The Troublesome Raigne and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, King of England: […], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press] for Henry Bell, […], published 1622, →OCLC, (please specify the page):

For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 60:2:

A pestilent and most corrosive steam,
Like a gross fog Boeotian, rising fast,
And fast condensed upon the dewy sash,
Asks egress;

1785, William Cowper, The Task, London: J. Johnson, Book 3, p. 116:

[…] a larger life
Upon his own impinging, with swift glimpse
Of spacious circles luminous with mind,
To which the ethereal substance of his own
Seems but gross cloud to make that visible,
Touched to a sudden glory round the edge.

1870, James Russell Lowell, The Cathedral, Boston: Fields, Osgood, page 34:

(now chiefly poetic) Difficult or impossible to see through.

For he is groſſe and like the maſſie earth,
That mooues not vpwards, nor by princely deeds
Doth meane to ſoare aboue the highest ſort.

c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene vii:

For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 13:15:

A thousand liveried Angels lacky her [the chaste soul],
Driving far off each thing of sin and guilt,
And in cleer dream, and solemn vision
Tell her of things that no gross ear can hear.

1634 October 9 (first performance), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […] [Comus], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey Robinson, […], published 1637, →OCLC; reprinted as Comus: […] (Dodd, Mead & Company’s Facsimile Reprints of Rare Books; Literature Series; no. I), New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903, →OCLC:

(archaic) Not sensitive in perception or feeling.

[…] though the truth of it stands off as gross
As black and white, my eye will scarcely see it.

1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:

en-adj

gross (comparative grosser or more gross, superlative grossest or most gross)

grosser (comparative)
more gross (comparative)
grossest (superlative)
most gross (superlative)

سَيِّء

lacking refinement in manner; offending morality

From Middle English gross (“whole, entire; flagrant, monstrous”), from Old French gros (“big, thick, large, stout”), from Late Latin grossus (“thick in diameter, coarse”), and Medieval Latin grossus (“great, big”), influenced by Old High German grōz (“big, thick, coarse”), from Proto-Germanic *grautaz (“large, great, thick, coarse grained, unrefined”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- (“to rub, to stroke, to grind”).
Cognate with French grossier (“gross”). See also French dialectal grôt, groût (“large”) (Berry) and grô (“large”) (Burgundy), Catalan gros (“big”), Dutch groot (“big, large”), German groß (“large”), English great.

inh

Middle English gross (“whole, entire; flagrant, monstrous”)

der

Old French gros (“big, thick, large, stout”)

Late Latin grossus (“thick in diameter, coarse”)

Old High German grōz (“big, thick, coarse”)

large, great, thick, coarse grained, unrefined

Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- (“to rub, to stroke, to grind”)


gross

The total nominal earnings or amount, before taxes, expenses, exceptions or similar are deducted. That which remains after all deductions is called net.

en-noun

gross (countable and uncountable, plural gross or grosses)


gross

The movie grossed three million on the first weekend.

The film grossed $464 million worldwide, ensconcing her in the Hollywood A-list.

2014 January 21, Hermione Hoby, “Julia Roberts interview for August: Osage County – 'I might actually go to hell for this ...': Julia Roberts reveals why her violent, Oscar-nominated performance in August: Osage County made her feel 'like a terrible person' [print version: 'I might actually go to hell for this ...' (18 January 2014, p. R4)]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review):

(transitive) To earn money, not including expenses.

en-verb

gross (third-person singular simple present grosses, present participle grossing, simple past and past participle grossed)

grosses (present singular third-person)
grossing (participle present)
grossed (participle past)
grossed (past)


gross

Switzerland and Liechtenstein standard spelling of groß

de-adj

gross (strong nominative masculine singular grosser, comparative grösser, superlative am grössten)

grosser (masculine nominative singular strong)
grösser (comparative)
am grössten (superlative)
gross (masculine predicative singular)
gross (feminine predicative singular)
gross (neuter predicative singular)
gross (plural predicative)
grosser (masculine nominative singular strong without-article)
grosse (feminine nominative singular strong without-article)
grosses (neuter nominative singular strong without-article)
grosse (nominative plural strong without-article)
grossen (genitive masculine singular strong without-article)
grosser (feminine genitive singular strong without-article)
grossen (genitive neuter singular strong without-article)
grosser (genitive plural strong without-article)
grossem (dative masculine singular strong without-article)
grosser (dative feminine singular strong without-article)
grossem (dative neuter singular strong without-article)
grossen (dative plural strong without-article)
grossen (accusative masculine singular strong without-article)
grosse (accusative feminine singular strong without-article)
grosses (accusative neuter singular strong without-article)
grosse (accusative plural strong without-article)
der grosse (definite includes-article masculine nominative singular weak)
die grosse (definite feminine includes-article nominative singular weak)
das grosse (definite includes-article neuter nominative singular weak)
die grossen (definite includes-article nominative plural weak)
des grossen (definite genitive includes-article masculine singular weak)
der grossen (definite feminine genitive includes-article singular weak)
des grossen (definite genitive includes-article neuter singular weak)
der grossen (definite genitive includes-article plural weak)
dem grossen (dative definite includes-article masculine singular weak)
der grossen (dative definite feminine includes-article singular weak)
dem grossen (dative definite includes-article neuter singular weak)
den grossen (dative definite includes-article plural weak)
den grossen (accusative definite includes-article masculine singular weak)
die grosse (accusative definite feminine includes-article singular weak)
das grosse (accusative definite includes-article neuter singular weak)
die grossen (accusative definite includes-article plural weak)
ein grosser (includes-article indefinite masculine mixed nominative singular)
eine grosse (feminine includes-article indefinite mixed nominative singular)
ein grosses (includes-article indefinite mixed neuter nominative singular)
grossen (indefinite mixed nominative plural)
keine grossen (includes-article indefinite mixed negative nominative plural)
eines grossen (genitive includes-article indefinite masculine mixed singular)
einer grossen (feminine genitive includes-article indefinite mixed singular)
eines grossen (genitive includes-article indefinite mixed neuter singular)
grossen (genitive indefinite mixed plural)
keiner grossen (genitive includes-article indefinite mixed negative plural)
einem grossen (dative includes-article indefinite masculine mixed singular)
einer grossen (dative feminine includes-article indefinite mixed singular)
einem grossen (dative includes-article indefinite mixed neuter singular)
grossen (dative indefinite mixed plural)
keinen grossen (dative includes-article indefinite mixed negative plural)
einen grossen (accusative includes-article indefinite masculine mixed singular)
eine grosse (accusative feminine includes-article indefinite mixed singular)
ein grosses (accusative includes-article indefinite mixed neuter singular)
grossen (accusative indefinite mixed plural)
keine grossen (accusative includes-article indefinite mixed negative plural)
grösser (comparative masculine predicative singular)
grösser (comparative feminine predicative singular)
grösser (comparative neuter predicative singular)
grösser (comparative plural predicative)
grösserer (comparative masculine nominative singular strong without-article)
grössere (comparative feminine nominative singular strong without-article)
grösseres (comparative neuter nominative singular strong without-article)
grössere (comparative nominative plural strong without-article)
grösseren (comparative genitive masculine singular strong without-article)
grösserer (comparative feminine genitive singular strong without-article)
grösseren (comparative genitive neuter singular strong without-article)
grösserer (comparative genitive plural strong without-article)
grösserem (comparative dative masculine singular strong without-article)
grösserer (comparative dative feminine singular strong without-article)
grösserem (comparative dative neuter singular strong without-article)
grösseren (comparative dative plural strong without-article)
grösseren (accusative comparative masculine singular strong without-article)
grössere (accusative comparative feminine singular strong without-article)
grösseres (accusative comparative neuter singular strong without-article)
grössere (accusative comparative plural strong without-article)
der grössere (comparative definite includes-article masculine nominative singular weak)
die grössere (comparative definite feminine includes-article nominative singular weak)
das grössere (comparative definite includes-article neuter nominative singular weak)
die grösseren (comparative definite includes-article nominative plural weak)
des grösseren (comparative definite genitive includes-article masculine singular weak)
der grösseren (comparative definite feminine genitive includes-article singular weak)
des grösseren (comparative definite genitive includes-article neuter singular weak)
der grösseren (comparative definite genitive includes-article plural weak)
dem grösseren (comparative dative definite includes-article masculine singular weak)
der grösseren (comparative dative definite feminine includes-article singular weak)
dem grösseren (comparative dative definite includes-article neuter singular weak)
den grösseren (comparative dative definite includes-article plural weak)
den grösseren (accusative comparative definite includes-article masculine singular weak)
die grössere (accusative comparative definite feminine includes-article singular weak)
das grössere (accusative comparative definite includes-article neuter singular weak)
die grösseren (accusative comparative definite includes-article plural weak)
ein grösserer (comparative includes-article indefinite masculine mixed nominative singular)
eine grössere (comparative feminine includes-article indefinite mixed nominative singular)
ein grösseres (comparative includes-article indefinite mixed neuter nominative singular)
grösseren (comparative indefinite mixed nominative plural)
keine grösseren (comparative includes-article indefinite mixed negative nominative plural)
eines grösseren (comparative genitive includes-article indefinite masculine mixed singular)
einer grösseren (comparative feminine genitive includes-article indefinite mixed singular)
eines grösseren (comparative genitive includes-article indefinite mixed neuter singular)
grösseren (comparative genitive indefinite mixed plural)
keiner grösseren (comparative genitive includes-article indefinite mixed negative plural)
einem grösseren (comparative dative includes-article indefinite masculine mixed singular)
einer grösseren (comparative dative feminine includes-article indefinite mixed singular)
einem grösseren (comparative dative includes-article indefinite mixed neuter singular)
grösseren (comparative dative indefinite mixed plural)
keinen grösseren (comparative dative includes-article indefinite mixed negative plural)
einen grösseren (accusative comparative includes-article indefinite masculine mixed singular)
eine grössere (accusative comparative feminine includes-article indefinite mixed singular)
ein grösseres (accusative comparative includes-article indefinite mixed neuter singular)
grösseren (accusative comparative indefinite mixed plural)
keine grösseren (accusative comparative includes-article indefinite mixed negative plural)
am grössten (masculine predicative singular superlative)
am grössten (feminine predicative singular superlative)
am grössten (neuter predicative singular superlative)
am grössten (plural predicative superlative)
grösster (masculine nominative singular strong superlative without-article)
grösste (feminine nominative singular strong superlative without-article)
grösstes (neuter nominative singular strong superlative without-article)
grösste (nominative plural strong superlative without-article)
grössten (genitive masculine singular strong superlative without-article)
grösster (feminine genitive singular strong superlative without-article)
grössten (genitive neuter singular strong superlative without-article)
grösster (genitive plural strong superlative without-article)
grösstem (dative masculine singular strong superlative without-article)
grösster (dative feminine singular strong superlative without-article)
grösstem (dative neuter singular strong superlative without-article)
grössten (dative plural strong superlative without-article)
grössten (accusative masculine singular strong superlative without-article)
grösste (accusative feminine singular strong superlative without-article)
grösstes (accusative neuter singular strong superlative without-article)
grösste (accusative plural strong superlative without-article)
der grösste (definite includes-article masculine nominative singular superlative weak)
die grösste (definite feminine includes-article nominative singular superlative weak)
das grösste (definite includes-article neuter nominative singular superlative weak)
die grössten (definite includes-article nominative plural superlative weak)
des grössten (definite genitive includes-article masculine singular superlative weak)
der grössten (definite feminine genitive includes-article singular superlative weak)
des grössten (definite genitive includes-article neuter singular superlative weak)
der grössten (definite genitive includes-article plural superlative weak)
dem grössten (dative definite includes-article masculine singular superlative weak)
der grössten (dative definite feminine includes-article singular superlative weak)
dem grössten (dative definite includes-article neuter singular superlative weak)
den grössten (dative definite includes-article plural superlative weak)
den grössten (accusative definite includes-article masculine singular superlative weak)
die grösste (accusative definite feminine includes-article singular superlative weak)
das grösste (accusative definite includes-article neuter singular superlative weak)
die grössten (accusative definite includes-article plural superlative weak)
ein grösster (includes-article indefinite masculine mixed nominative singular superlative)
eine grösste (feminine includes-article indefinite mixed nominative singular superlative)
ein grösstes (includes-article indefinite mixed neuter nominative singular superlative)
grössten (indefinite mixed nominative plural superlative)
keine grössten (includes-article indefinite mixed negative nominative plural superlative)
eines grössten (genitive includes-article indefinite masculine mixed singular superlative)
einer grössten (feminine genitive includes-article indefinite mixed singular superlative)
eines grössten (genitive includes-article indefinite mixed neuter singular superlative)
grössten (genitive indefinite mixed plural superlative)
keiner grössten (genitive includes-article indefinite mixed negative plural superlative)
einem grössten (dative includes-article indefinite masculine mixed singular superlative)
einer grössten (dative feminine includes-article indefinite mixed singular superlative)
einem grössten (dative includes-article indefinite mixed neuter singular superlative)
grössten (dative indefinite mixed plural superlative)
keinen grössten (dative includes-article indefinite mixed negative plural superlative)
einen grössten (accusative includes-article indefinite masculine mixed singular superlative)
eine grösste (accusative feminine includes-article indefinite mixed singular superlative)
ein grösstes (accusative includes-article indefinite mixed neuter singular superlative)
grössten (accusative indefinite mixed plural superlative)
keine grössten (accusative includes-article indefinite mixed negative plural superlative)


gross

head

gross (comparative greesser, superlative greescht)

greesser (comparative)
greescht (superlative)

From Middle High German grōz, from Old High German grōz, from Proto-West Germanic *graut, from Proto-Germanic *grautaz.
Compare German groß, Dutch groot, English great.


gross

gross (indefinite nominative singular)
gross (genitive indefinite singular)
grosset (definite nominative singular)
grossets (definite genitive singular)
gross (indefinite nominative plural)
gross (genitive indefinite plural)
grossen (definite nominative plural)
grossens (definite genitive plural)

From French grosse (douzaine), "large (dozen)".