Big Ten


A group of prominent midwestern universities known for high academic standards and keen athletic competition. Nine of the ten are state universities: the universities of Illinois (at Urbana), Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin (at Madison); Michigan State University; Ohio State University; Indiana University; and Purdue University. Northwestern University is the sole private school.

Words Nearby Big Ten

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

How to use Big Ten in a sentence

  • As the boy started the Big Ten-team, the light grew suddenly brighter.

    Connie Morgan in Alaska | James B. Hendryx
  • The reversing-lever of a Big Ten-wheeler is no child's plaything, and he stood ready to help her if she could not manage it.

    A Romance in Transit | Francis Lynde
  • There were six of them, extra Big Ten-cent ones, and they could easily lift the small doll in the basket.