at large
Cultural-
Free, unconfined, especially not confined in prison, as in To our distress, the housebreakers were still at large . [1300s]
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At length, fully; also, as a whole, in general. For example, The chairman talked at large about the company's plans for the coming year , or, as Shakespeare wrote in Love's Labour's Lost (1:1): “So to the laws at large I write my name” (that is, I uphold the laws in general). This usage is somewhat less common. [1400s]
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Elected to represent an entire group of voters rather than those in a particular district or other segment—for example, alderman at large , representing all the wards of a city instead of just one, or delegate at large to a labor union convention . [Mid-1700s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“For people who are there, I’m telling people: ‘Get your flu shot ASAP,’” said Celine Gounder, an infectious-disease doctor and editor at large for public health at KFF Health News.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
Rapid improvements in generative AI have made synthetic videos increasingly realistic, increasing the need for detection systems that are both accurate and capable of operating at large scale.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 1, 2026
Anderson was released on Monday from Maghaberry Prison to attend the funeral but absconded and remains at large.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
“The ballet is not a narrative,” says Mr. Thomas, and though he’s referring to a specific piece, he might be speaking for the art form at large.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
In 1988, as Chris’s resentment of his parents hardened, his sense of outrage over injustice in the world at large grew.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
