\Great\, a. [Compar. {Greater}; superl. {Greatest}.] [OE.
gret, great, AS. gre['a]t; akin to OS. & LG. gr[=o]t, D.
groot, OHG. gr[=o]z, G. gross. Cf. {Groat} the coin.]
1. Large in space; of much size; big; immense; enormous;
   expanded; -- opposed to small and little; as, a great
   house, ship, farm, plain, distance, length.

2. Large in number; numerous; as, a great company, multitude,
   series, etc.

3. Long continued; lengthened in duration; prolonged in time;
   as, a great while; a great interval.

4. Superior; admirable; commanding; -- applied to thoughts,
   actions, and feelings.

5. Endowed with extraordinary powers; uncommonly gifted; able
   to accomplish vast results; strong; powerful; mighty;
   noble; as, a great hero, scholar, genius, philosopher,
   etc.

6. Holding a chief position; elevated: lofty: eminent;
   distingushed; foremost; principal; as, great men; the
   great seal; the great marshal, etc.

         He doth object I am too great of birth. --Shak.

7. Entitled to earnest consideration; weighty; important; as,
   a great argument, truth, or principle.

8. Pregnant; big (with young).

         The ewes great with young.            --Ps. lxxviii.
                                               71.

9. More than ordinary in degree; very considerable in degree;
   as, to use great caution; to be in great pain.

         We have all Great cause to give great thanks.
                                               --Shak.

10. (Genealogy) Older, younger, or more remote, by single
    generation; -- often used before grand to indicate one
    degree more remote in the direct line of descent; as,
    great-grandfather (a grandfather's or a grandmother's
    father), great-grandson, etc.

{Great bear} (Astron.), the constellation Ursa Major.

{Great cattle} (Law), all manner of cattle except sheep and
   yearlings. --Wharton.

{Great charter} (Eng. Hist.), Magna Charta.

{Great circle of a sphere}, a circle the plane of which
   passes through the center of the sphere.

{Great circle sailing}, the process or art of conducting a
   ship on a great circle of the globe or on the shortest arc
   between two places.

{Great go}, the final examination for a degree at the
   University of Oxford, England; -- called also {greats}.
   --T. Hughes.

{Great guns}. (Naut.) See under Gun.

{The Great Lakes} the large fresh-water lakes (Lakes
   Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario) which lie on
   the northern borders of the United States.

{Great master}. Same as {Grand master}, under {Grand}.

{Great organ} (Mus.), the largest and loudest of the three
   parts of a grand organ (the others being the choir organ
   and the swell, and sometimes the pedal organ or foot
   keys), It is played upon by a separate keyboard, which has
   the middle position.

{The great powers} (of Europe), in modern diplomacy, Great
   Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Russia, and Italy.

{Great primer}. See under {Type}.

{Great scale} (Mus.), the complete scale; -- employed to
   designate the entire series of musical sounds from lowest
   to highest.

{Great sea}, the Mediterranean sea. In Chaucer both the Black
   and the Mediterranean seas are so called.

{Great seal}.
    (a) The principal seal of a kingdom or state.
    (b) In Great Britain, the lord chancellor (who is
        custodian of this seal); also, his office.



{Great tithes}. See under Tithes.

{The great}, the eminent, distinguished, or powerful.

{The Great Spirit}, among the North American Indians, their
   chief or principal deity.

{To be great} (with one), to be intimate or familiar (with
   him). --Bacon.

\Great\, n.
The whole; the gross; as, a contract to build a ship by the
great.