big data

American  

noun

(used with a singular or plural verb)

1. Computers. data sets, typically consisting of billions or trillions of records, that are so vast and complex that they require new and powerful computational resources to process.

   Supercomputers can analyze big data to create models of global climate change.

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big data British  

plural noun

1. computing data held in such large amounts that it can be difficult to process

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Etymology

Origin of big data

First recorded in 1975–80, for an earlier sense