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giant

giant

153 2.3
A very large imaginary person in stories
  • noun
  • /ˈdʒaɪənt/
  • Literature
translation icon : gigante
  • The old legend described a giant who could lift mountains with ease.
  • a gentle giant
  • giants and dwarves
  • a giant lived

You know who spoke about the giants building the mounds of America?

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Examples

  • To these folk, she was a monstrous giant peering down with unknown intent.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • You may be within touching distance of this 1,500-pound giant that minds better than most children.

    Academic text (1994)
  • It's time that you fear the giant baby.

  • Some will say he stands like a giant with his face lost among the stars.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • It's a place where giants have stood and history has been made.

  • "It must have been the large hairy giant he saw running from the scene."

  • Walter was the gentle giant, the father figure, the one the other boys respected.

    Academic text (2003)
  • Odin was himself descended from giants, and he and his brothers created the world.

    Academic text (1990)
  • The peaks jutted up around the lake like a giant's ring of fire stones.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • You and I striding through centuries of dust like giants surveying our emerging empire.

Synonyms

Goliath
vsgiant
627 7.4

A very large, powerful person or thing named after a giant in the Bible

is a generic mythic enormous creature rather than a named figure
monster
vsgiant
  • Offensive
395 2.5

A very large person or animal with a strange, frightening body

is an enormous mythic being without implied deformity or terror
behemoth
vsgiant
31 7.8

A very large and powerful thing, person, or group

is a story creature of enormous size and strength, not organizations
ogre
vsgiant
  • Literature
27 7.5

A large ugly giant that eats people in fairy tales

is a huge mythical being without required cruelty or ugliness
giantess
vsgiant
  • Literature
1 8.2

A very large woman in old stories or fairy tales

is the same mythic large creature but not specifically female
toa
vsgiant
  • New Zealand
1 9.9

A very tall person in stories or legends

is the general mythic enormous being across many tales

Antonyms

20 6.8

Very small in size

Idioms

A small action that leads to a very large benefit for all people

Compounds

gas giant
  • Specialized
13 4.5

A very large planet like Jupiter or Saturn made mostly of light gases that has no solid surface

red giant
  • Specialized
7 7.2

A very large old star with a cool surface and much larger size than the Sun

5 1.7

A large black and white bear from China that eats mainly bamboo

giant squid
  • Specialized
5 4.9

A very large animal with long arms that lives deep in the sea and reaches 18 meters

gentle giant
  • Informal
4 3.4

A very large person who is kind and calm

giant star
  • Specialized
3 6.8

A very large bright star near the end of its life

sleeping giant
  • Informal
3 6.5

A person or group with large unused power and potential

1 5.7

A very large sea clam that lives on coral reefs

1 5.9

A very large insect like a cockroach that lives in tropical parts of the Americas

A very large land turtle from islands like Galapagos and Seychelles that lives over 100 years

giant sequoia
  • Specialized
1 5.3

A very large evergreen tree with a very thick trunk that grows on the Sierra Nevada in California

red giant star
  • Specialized
1 6.3

A very large, old star that shines bright and red

1 6.9

A very large fern that grows in wet tropical forests

1 7.3

A very large animal with a hard shell from South America that grows about three feet long

A very large sea crab from Japan that lives in deep water with very long legs

giant eland
  • South African
8.6

A very large antelope with dark stripes and twisted horns that lives in western and central Africa

3.9

A very tall evergreen tree from northwest America with long curved branches

8.9

A coarse grass that grows in fields and crowds out crops

A large brown seabird that lives near Antarctica

A large vegetable like a leek with a mild garlic taste

A tropical plant that makes very large fruit you can eat

A large wild orchid with greenish-brown and pinkish flowers that grows near streams or ponds

Large raised red patches on the skin that appear suddenly and usually go away within one day

A large mammal from South America with a long tongue and claws that eats ants and termites

3.5

A very large bamboo plant from Southeast Asia with strong hollow stems like tree trunks

A large flowering plant that grows in wet mountain grasslands of Peru

7.3

A tall grass that grows in thick groups in the southern United States

A small evergreen tree from the Pacific Coast with shiny yellow-green leaves and edible nuts

A large sea snail with a spiral shell people collect and sometimes eat

A large shrub with feathery leaves and bright yellow flowers that grows on the coast

A very large insect like a wasp that stings and can be aggressive

A plant grown in gardens for its fragrant leaves and colorful flowers

giant kangaroo
  • Australian
3.4

A very large Australian kangaroo that once lived in open woods

A very large lizard that lives on some Indonesian islands, for example the Komodo dragon

A very large animal like a big frog that lives in Asian rivers and is sometimes eaten

4.9

A large edible sea clam that lives in cold Atlantic waters

A large strong dog with thick wiry fur and a beard and bushy eyebrows bred to work

9.8

A large plant with many green leaves that climbs or spreads over walls

A large fish like a perch that lives in the sea, rivers, and bays and is good to eat

giant silkworm
  • Specialized
7.0

A large caterpillar that makes strong silk for its cocoon

giant silkworm moth
  • Specialized
7.7

A large moth with big wings whose caterpillars make silk

giant moa
  • New Zealand
9.9

A very large bird from New Zealand that cannot fly and is now extinct

A large sea animal like a worm that bores into wood under water

A large fish that lives in sea and rivers and people catch to eat and for sport

giant petrel
  • Australian
8.1

A large seabird like a big seagull that lives near Antarctic seas and eats dead animals, fish, and squid

giant pigfish
  • Australian
9.9

A large colorful fish that lives near coral reefs in the Great Barrier Reef

A vine from Costa Rica with large purple-blue flowers and hook-shaped spines

A large round white mushroom people eat when it is young

A wildflower of western North America with ragged clusters of bright red flowers

A very tall grass with jointed stems and feathery white flower clusters near rivers

A large tall grass that grows for many years and helps hold soil

7.7

A tall grass grown for animal feed and hay

giant stock bean
  • Specialized
9.9

A bushy tropical plant with long pods grown for animal feed

giant sunflower
  • Specialized
3.2

A very tall sunflower with thick edible roots

giant taro
  • Australian
7.7

A large tropical plant with very big leaves grown for its edible underground stem

giant timber bamboo
  • Specialized
6.3

Very large bamboo plant with thick stems from China

A large water insect that eats small fish and other water animals

A tall plant with many pink flowers that bees like

8.2

A large salamander that lives in western North American forests

yellow giant hyssop
  • Specialized
9.5

A tall plant with yellow-green flowers that lives for many years

How Big

behemoth
31 7.8
colossus
2 6.7
giant
  • Literature
153 2.3

Surface Forms

giant singular
giants plural

Etymology

Giant comes from the old Greek word gigas, a name for very large, mythic people or creatures who tower over others. That is why a giant in stories is a creature much taller and stronger than a normal person.