Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - large

~ adj 1 »BIG« bigger or more than usual in number, amount, or size  (Los Angeles is the second largest city in the US. | The T-shirt comes in Small, Medium and Large. | This could create a large number of new jobs. | The town has a large population of elderly people.)  (- see wide1, big) 2 »PERSON« a large person is very tall and wide  (A large man with a shotgun blocked our path.)  (- see fat1) 3 be at large if a dangerous person or animal is at large, they have escaped from somewhere and may cause harm or damage  (Two of the escaped prisoners are still at large.) 4 the world/country/public at large people in general  (The organization provides information on health issues to the public at large.) 5 »MORE GENERAL« the larger issues/view/picture the important general facts and questions about a situation, problem etc  (a useful book about the conflict, which helps to explain the larger picture) 6 (as) large as life spoken used when someone has appeared or is present in a place where you did not expect to see them  (I turned a corner and there was Joe, as large as life.) 7 larger than life someone who is larger than life attracts a lot of attention because they are more amusing, attractive, or exciting than most people 8 in large part/measure formal mostly  (- see also by and large by2 (5), loom large loom2 (3), writ large writ2) - largeness n