Word.ws English Dictionary

give it the big one

give it the big one verb: to behave in an arrogant or self-important manner; to boast.

Verb

give it the big one (third-person singular simple present gives it the big one, present participle giving it the big one, simple past gave it the big one, past participle given it the big one)

  1. (UK, idiomatic, slang) To behave in an arrogant or self-important manner; to boast.
    • The only thing they never saw was the window going in and we didn't do that, just the looting. Anyway, this clever plod gives it the big one and tells the judge he saw us do it.2002, Andy Nicholls, Scally: Confessions of a Category C Football Hooligan, Ramsbottom: Milo, →ISBN, page 96
    • What I'm saying is, I don't want you to go away thinking, Sally Morgan's giving it the big one about how she spoke to the Princess of Wales every day.2008, Sally Morgan, My Psychic Life, London: Penguin Books, →ISBN, page 240

Forms of give it the big one

third-person singular presentgives it the big one
present participlegiving it the big one
pastgave it the big one
past participlegiven it the big one
alternative formgive it the biggun

Questions about give it the big one

What does give it the big one mean?
Give it the big one means to behave in an arrogant or self-important manner; to boast.
What part of speech is give it the big one?
Give it the big one is a verb.
What is the past tense of give it the big one?
The past tense of give it the big one is gave it the big one.

Words near give it the big one in the dictionary

  1. give it large
  2. give it mouth
  3. give it one's best shot
  4. give it socks
  5. give it some welly
  6. give it the big one
  7. give it the gun
  8. give it to someone
  9. give it up
  10. give lie to
  11. give life to

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: give it the big one (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: “give it the big one.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/give_it_the_big_one. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.