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Synonyms

big gun

American  

noun

Slang.

  1. an influential or important person or thing.

    He's a big gun in science.
big gun British  

noun

  1. informal an important or influential person

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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 just one example, see next term’s big gun case, which asks whether the Second Amendment prevents the government from disarming people who are under a restraining order for domestic violence.

From Slate • Aug. 31, 2023

If this appeal to latinidad still doesn’t work, Caruso brings out the big gun for his Spanish-language commercial on crime: a guy who sounds just like the Dodgers’ Hall of Fame broadcaster Jaime Jarrín.

From Los Angeles Times • May 5, 2022

I fired a 155 howitzer, this big gun on wheels.

From The Guardian • Jul. 18, 2020

One of rugby’s big gun is sure to fall before the knockout stage.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 12, 2019

Amarante stood there toothlessly half-grinning with his big gun held laxly, almost limply in his hands.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols

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.