Big Five

American  

noun

History/Historical.

1. the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Japan during World War I and at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919.

2. (after World War II) the United States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, China, and France.

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Big Five British  

noun

1. the five countries considered to be the major world powers. In the period immediately following World War II, the US, Britain, the Soviet Union, China, and France were regarded as the Big Five

2. the lion, the elephant, the rhinoceros, the buffalo, and the leopard: considered to be the five principal African wild animals, esp as sought by those on safari

3. Also: Big Four.   Big Three.  a small powerful group, as of banks, companies, etc

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Example Sentences

Kruger's fauna -- including the famed Big Five grouping of elephant, rhino, lion, leopard and buffalo -- had largely escaped the flooding because animals had sensed the danger and moved to higher lying areas.

From Barron's • Jan. 22, 2026

Spain is one of Eurovisions’ Big Five countries that donate the most money for the contest, and Ireland has won the second most contests after Sweden, which features former winners like ABBA.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 5, 2025

Beyond academia, HarperCollins became the first Big Five commercial publisher to seal an A.I. deal in late 2024 with an unnamed company—allegedly Microsoft, according to anonymous sources.

From Slate • Nov. 3, 2025

The Big Five — Lockheed Martin, RTX, Boeing, General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman — produce most of the current big-ticket weapon systems, from submarines and intercontinental ballistic missiles to tanks, combat aircraft and missile-defense systems.

From Salon • Jul. 3, 2025

When our friends rank us on the Big Five, Gosling wanted to know, how closely do they come to the truth?

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell