big top
Americannoun
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the largest or main tent of a circus.
-
a circus.
noun
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the main tent of a circus
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the circus itself
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The main tent of a circus, as in The high-wire act is almost always in the big top . [c. 1840]
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Underworld slang for a maximum-security prison, as in He was sentenced to ten years in the big top . [1950s]
Etymology
Origin of big top
An Americanism dating back to 1890–95
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.
Their vibrant, jam-packed settings depict anything from an oceanic rave to a rainbow-hued big top performance to a joyride through the cosmos.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 25, 2026
Scouting For Girls, Britpop band Suede and DJ Jo Whiley with her 90s anthems are all set to top the bill in the big top arena.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2023
Now, he cannot see himself having any other job than the Timoteo Circus, and that when he dies he wants his funeral to be held under the circus’ big top.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 28, 2023
When he encounters a circus big top that has been erected in his neighborhood, he laments its galling presence and its associated history of freak shows.
From New York Times ● Sep. 29, 2022
With the exception of a handful of men in front of the sideshow—probably waiting to be led to Barbara—all the rubes are in the big top.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
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.
