big as life
Idioms-
Also, large as life . In person, as in And there was Mary, big as life, standing right in front of me . This phrase transfers the same size as in real life (life-size) to an actual appearance. Sometimes this term is embellished with and quite as natural , presumably alluding to a likeness of a person or thing that closely resembles the real thing. A similar addition is and twice as natural , which doesn't make sense. [Late 1800s]
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Also, larger than life ; big as all outdoors . On a grand scale, as in The soap opera could well be called a larger-than-life drama , or That friend of his was as big as all outdoors . This phrase can be used either literally, for larger than life-size (second example) or figuratively. The phrase all outdoors has been used to compare something or someone to an immensity since the early 1800s.
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.
Near it, and part of it, is Willemzoon, with her plain face and her deep sapphire eyes, as big as life, and no bigger.
From New York Times • Sep. 1, 2016
There was as big as life," Pileggi recalls, "and Nora leaned across to me in the theatre and said, 'This one is for real… you can't just phone it in.'
From The Guardian • Feb. 3, 2013
The next day, big as life, Kate Smith popped up in the Abner strip.
From Time Magazine Archive
There, big as life, shining in the full June moon, lay the sleek, clean form of a German pocket battleship.
From Time Magazine Archive
First I think my eyes are fooling, but there it is, big as life, looking like it missed me.
From "The Young Man and the Sea" by Rodman Philbrick
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.
