size
1 Americannoun
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the spatial dimensions, proportions, magnitude, or bulk of anything.
the size of a farm; the size of the fish you caught.
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considerable or great magnitude.
to seek size rather than quality.
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one of a series of graduated measures for articles of manufacture or trade.
children's sizes of shoes.
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a fortune of great size.
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actual condition, circumstance, or state of affairs.
That's about the size of it.
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a number of population or contents.
What size is Springfield, Illinois? The size of that last shipment was only a dozen.
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Obsolete. a fixed standard of quality or quantity, as for food or drink.
verb (used with object)
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to separate or sort according to size.
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to make of a certain size.
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Metallurgy. to press (a sintered compact) to close tolerances.
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Obsolete. to regulate or control according to a fixed standard.
verb phrase
idioms
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of a size, of the same or similar size.
The two poodles are of a size.
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try on for size,
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to put on briefly in order to test the fit of, as a garment or shoes.
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to consider, evaluate, do, or use before taking further action.
We'll try the plan on for size to see whether it's practical.
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noun
verb (used with object)
noun
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the dimensions, proportions, amount, or extent of something
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large or great dimensions, etc
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one of a series of graduated measurements, as of clothing
she takes size 4 shoes
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informal state of affairs as summarized
he's bankrupt, that's the size of it
verb
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to sort according to size
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(tr) to make or cut to a particular size or sizes
noun
verb
Usage
The use of -size and -sized after large or small is redundant, except when describing something which is made in specific sizes: a large (not large-size ) organization. Similarly, in size is redundant in the expressions large in size and small in size
Synonym Usage
Size, volume, mass, bulk are terms referring to the extent or dimensions of that which has magnitude and occupies space. Size is the general word: of great size; small in size. Volume often applies to something that has no fixed shape: Smoke has volume. Mass, also, does not suggest shape, but suggests a quantity of matter in a solid body: a mass of concrete. Bulk suggests weight, and often a recognizable, though perhaps unwieldy, shape: the huge bulk of an elephant.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of size1
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English noun sise, syse, originally, “control, regulation, limit,” from Old French sise, shortening and alteration of assise assize
Origin of size2
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English noun sise, syse; perhaps special use of size 1
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.
See Examples For:
Given the sheer size of the devastation and the passing days, the chances of finding survivors are diminishing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
It’s true that there’s reason for all of us to be concerned about the size of America’s debt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
An estimate of a market size is not a promise to take over 100 percent of the market, and that leaves room for an over-the-top pitch.
From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2026
"I looked at the size of it and I realised that's not a dolphin."
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
Nothing it said indicated the upper limit of the dragon's size.
From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville
Small bladder stones, sized like grains of sand, can pass on their own.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
Many retirees take systematic monthly distributions sized to cover the year’s RMD, and if that’s you and you’re eight months in, roughly two-thirds of your RMD is already gone.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
I said it before and I’ll say it again: More U.S. hotels should have beach-towel sized bath towels.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Funisia was a stationary, tube-shaped organism that lived in clusters of similarly sized individuals.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026
But sure as hell whoever was doing the sharpshooting from over there had sized up his situation and knew which way he would be breaking.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
Only in the final act does Scott bring Washington and Crowe together and the confrontation we’ve waited for turns out to be two formidable men sitting across a table, sizing each other up.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
“We’re ants, we’re nothing,” I remember him saying, sizing up the state of the American left.
From Slate ● Aug. 7, 2026
Online shopping, says Charlotte, “is something I avoid, especially as I get older — I just don’t have the patience to decode the sizing differences of four different brands selling basically the same shirt.”
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
Meanwhile, sizing studies done on the SPR in the 1970s recommended an inventory minimum of 250 million barrels.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
Malfoy looked at Crabbe and Goyle, sizing them up.
From "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling
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.
