GI'ANT, n. [L. gigas; Gr. probably from the earth. The word originally signified earth-born, terrigena. The ancients believed the first inhabitants of the earth to be produced from the ground and to be of enormous size.] 1. A man of extraordinary bulk and stature. Giants of mighty bone, and bold emprise. 2. A person of extraordinary strength or powers, bodily or intellectual. The judge is a giant in his profession. Giants-causey, a vast collection of basaltic pillars in the county of Antrim, in Ireland. GI'ANT, a. Like a giant; extraordinary in size or strength; as giant brothers; a giant son.
adj 1: of great mass; huge and bulky; "a jumbo jet"; "jumbo shrimp" [syn: elephantine, gargantuan, giant, jumbo] n 1: any creature of exceptional size 2: a person of exceptional importance and reputation [syn: colossus, behemoth, giant, heavyweight, titan] 3: an unusually large enterprise; "Walton built a retail giant" 4: a very large person; impressive in size or qualities [syn: giant, hulk, heavyweight, whale] 5: someone or something that is abnormally large and powerful [syn: giant, goliath, behemoth, monster, colossus] 6: an imaginary figure of superhuman size and strength; appears in folklore and fairy tales 7: a very bright star of large diameter and low density (relative to the Sun) [syn: giant star, giant]
I. nounEtymology: Middle English giaunt, from Anglo-French geant, from Latin gigant-, gigas, from Greek Date: 14th century 1. a legendary humanlike being of great stature and strength 2.a. a living being of great size b. a person of extraordinary powers 3. something unusually large or powerful • giantlikeadjectiveII. adjectiveDate: 15th century having extremely large size, proportion, or power
n. & adj. --n. 1 an imaginary or mythical being of human form but superhuman size. 2 (in Greek mythology) one of such beings who fought against the gods. 3 an abnormally tall or large person, animal, or plant. 4 a person of exceptional ability, integrity, courage, etc. 5 a large star. --attrib.adj. 1 of extraordinary size or force, gigantic; monstrous. 2 colloq. extra large (giant packet). 3 (of a plant or animal) of a very large kind. Phrases and idioms: giant-killer a person who defeats a seemingly much more powerful opponent. Derivatives: giantism n. giant-like adj. Etymology: ME geant (later infl. by L) f. OF, ult. f. L gigas gigant- f. Gk
Giant Gi"ant, n. [OE. giant, geant, geaunt, OF. jaiant, geant, F. g['e]ant, L. gigas, fr. Gr. ?, ?, from the root of E. gender, genesis. See Gender, and cf. Gigantic.] 1. A man of extraordinari bulk and stature. Giants of mighty bone and bold emprise. --Milton. 2. A person of extraordinary strength or powers, bodily or intellectual. 3. Any animal, plant, or thing, of extraordinary size or power. Giant's Causeway, a vast collection of basaltic pillars, in the county of Antrim on the northern coast of Ireland.
Giant Gi"ant, a. Like a giant; extraordinary in size, strength, or power; as, giant brothers; a giant son. Giant cell. (Anat.) See Myeloplax. Giant clam (Zo["o]l.), a bivalve shell of the genus Tridacna, esp. T. gigas, which sometimes weighs 500 pounds. The shells are sometimes used in churches to contain holy water. Giant heron (Zo["o]l.), a very large African heron (Ardeomega goliath). It is the largest heron known. Giant kettle, a pothole of very large dimensions, as found in Norway in connection with glaciers. See Pothole. Giant powder. See Nitroglycerin. Giant puffball (Bot.), a fungus (Lycoperdon giganteum), edible when young, and when dried used for stanching wounds. Giant salamander (Zo["o]l.), a very large aquatic salamander (Megalobatrachus maximus), found in Japan. It is the largest of living Amphibia, becoming a yard long. Giant squid (Zo["o]l.), one of several species of very large squids, belonging to Architeuthis and allied genera. Some are over forty feet long.
(giants)Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. Something that is described as giant is much larger or more important than most others of its kind. ...Italy's giant car maker, Fiat....a giant oak table....a giant step towards unification with the introduction of monetary union.= huge ADJ: ADJ n 2. Giant is often used to refer to any large, successful business organization or country. (JOURNALISM) ...Japanese electronics giant Sony....one of Germany's industrial giants, Daimler-Benz.N-COUNT: usu n N 3. A giant is an imaginary person who is very big and strong, especially one mentioned in old stories. ...a Nordic saga of giants.N-COUNT 4. You can refer to someone, especially a man, as a giant, if they seem important or powerful or if they are big and strong. The biggest man in the patrol, a giant of a man, lifted Mattie on to his shoulders.N-COUNT: usu a N of n 5. You can refer to someone such as a famous musician or writer as a giant, if they are regarded as one of the most important or successful people in their field. He was without question one of the giants of Japanese literature.N-COUNT: usu N of n
