Word.ws English Dictionary

at-large

at-large is the alternative spelling of at large.

Meaning of at large

Prepositional phrase

  1. (idiomatic) On the loose; roaming freely; not confined.
    • For a nervous twenty-four hours, three wanted criminals were at large in the city.
  2. (obsolete) In full, fully.
    • The like example I find in Lælius à Fonte Eugubinus, consult. 129 […]. Read in him the story at large., vol.I, New York 2001, p.236
    Synonyms:
    entirely, in full, wholly
  3. In general; as a whole.
    • Some people support the measure, but the community at large will probably be against it.
  4. (US) Having an electorate across multiple districts.
    • The city has five city council districts; however, the mayor is elected at large.

Questions about at-large

What is at-large the alternative spelling of?
At-large is the alternative spelling of at large.

Words near at-large in the dictionary

  1. at-fault
  2. at-grade
  3. at-home card
  4. at-home cards
  5. at-homeness
  6. at-large
  7. at-one-ness
  8. at-risk
  9. at-rule
  10. at-rules
  11. at-sign

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: at-large (page history and authors); at large (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “at-large.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/at-large. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.