Link Centre Dictionary

size

UK/saɪz/ US/ˈsaɪz/ common uk us
noun (5) adjective (1) verb (3)

noun

1.

the physical magnitude of something (how big it is)

  • “a wolf is about the size of a large dog”
2.

the property resulting from being one of a series of graduated measurements (as of clothing)

  • “he wears a size 13 shoe”
3.

any glutinous material used to fill pores in surfaces or to stiffen fabrics

  • “size gives body to a fabric”
Synonyms
4.

the actual state of affairs

  • “that”
  • “;”
  • “s about the size of it”
Synonyms
5.

a large magnitude

  • “he blanched when he saw the size of the bill”
  • “the only city of any size in that area”

adjective

1.

(used in combination) sized

  • “the economy-size package”
  • “average-size house”
Similar

verb

1.
2.
3.

make to a size; bring to a suitable size

Origin

Attested since the 14th century, originally meant a “law or regulation that determines the amount to be paid”, from Middle English syse, sise (“regulation, control, limit”), from Old French cise, sise, aphetism of assise (“assize”), from the verb asseoir (“to sit down”), from Latin assidēre, composed of ad- (“to, towards, at”) + sedeō (“sit; settle down”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sed-. Displaced native Old English miċelnes (literally “bigness”).

Phrases

  • big old
  • bring down to size
  • brood size
  • chili size
  • cut down to size
  • effective stack size
  • fun size
  • genome size
  • gold size
  • great big
  • it's not the size of the ship
  • it's the motion of the ocean

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

See also

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.