at large

1. A descriptive term for the election of public officials by an entire governmental unit rather than by subdivisions of the unit. For example, a delegate at large does not represent any specific district or locale, but speaks instead for a much wider group of people.

Idioms and Phrases

Free, unconfined, especially not confined in prison, as in To our distress, the housebreakers were still at large . [1300s]

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]

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

At least one other perpetrator remains at large, French officials say.

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The fourth member of the team remains at large.

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The lesson for schools — and for society at large — is that while AI may watch, it cannot yet quite understand.

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The Met Police said Kebatu was arrested on Sunday on suspicion of being unlawfully at large and would be taken to a London prison.

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By extension, the Jewish community, the Black community and the American left at large faced their own versions of that choice.

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Related Words

• able 
• clear 
• easy 
• independent 
• loose 
• open 
• unfettered 
• unrestricted