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[big cheese] or [big gun] or [big shot] or [big wheel] or [big wig] {n.}, {slang} An important person; a leader; a high official; a person of high rank. •/Bill had been a big shot in high school./ •/John wanted to be the big cheese in his club./ Compare: WHOLE CHEESE.

[big daddy]{n.}, {slang}, {informal} The most important, largest thing, person or animal in a congregation of similar persons, animals, or objects. •/The whale is the big daddy of everything that swims in the ocean./ •/The H-bomb is the big daddy of all modern weapons./ •/Al Capone was the big daddy of organized crime in Chicago during Prohibition./

[big deal]{interj.}, {slang}, {informal} (loud stress on the word "deal") Trifles; an unimportant, unimpressive thing or matter. •/So you became college president — big deal!/

[big frog in a small pond]{n. phr.}, {informal} An important person in a small place or position; someone who is respected and honored in a small company, school, or city; a leader in a small group. •/As company president, he had been a big frog in a small pond, but he was not so important as a new congressman in Washington./ Contrast: LITTLE FROG IN A BIG POND.

[bigger than one’s stomach] See: EYES BIGGER THAN ONE’S STOMACH.

[big hand]{n.} Loud and enthusiastic applause. •/When Pavarotti finished singing the aria from Rigoletto, he got a very big hand./

[big head]{n.}, {informal} Too high an opinion of your own ability or importance; conceit. •/When Jack was elected captain of the team, it gave him a big head./ Compare: SWELLED HEAD.

[big house]{n.} A large jail or prison. •/The rapist will spend many years in the big house./

[big lie, the]{n.}, {informal} A major, deliberate misrepresentation of some important issue made on the assumption that a bold, gross lie is psychologically more believable than a timid, minor one. •/We all heard the big lie during the Watergate months./ •/The pretense of democracy by a totalitarian regime is part of the big lie about its government./

[big mouth] or [big-mouthed] See: LOUD MOUTH, LOUD-MOUTHED.

[big shot] or [big wig] {n.} An important or influential person. •/Elmer is a big shot in the State Assembly./

[big stink]{n.}, {slang} A major scandal; a big upheaval. •/I’ll raise a big stink if they fire me./

[big time]{n.}, {informal} 1. A very enjoyable time at a party or other pleasurable gathering. •/I certainly had a big time at the club last night./ 2. The top group; the leading class; the best or most important company. •/After his graduation from college, he soon made the big time in baseball./ •/Many young actors go to Hollywood, but few of them reach the big time./

[big-time]{adj.} Belonging to the top group; of the leading class; important. •/Jean won a talent contest in her home town, and only a year later she began dancing on big-time television./ •/Bob practices boxing in the gym every day; he wants to become a big time boxer./ — Often used in the phrase "big-time operator". •/Just because Bill has a new football uniform he thinks he is a big-time operator./ Compare: SHOW OFF. Contrast: SMALL-TIME.