big one

noun

1
informal : a thousand dollars
The house in the background, we bought it for 70 grand in 1967, it would go for two hundred big ones now, easy …John Updike
2
informal : an extravagant lie : whopper
Talking about lying, I thought, I had just told a big one.Elizabeth Chandler
3
the big one or less commonly the Big One : an extremely large and destructive earthquake
… the prediction that the Big One may come in December is triggering tremors up and down the Mississippi Valley.Michael J. McCarthy

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1863, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of big one was circa 1863

Dictionary Entries Near big one

Cite this Entry

“Big one.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/big%20one. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.

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