big gun
Noun

big gun (plural big guns)

  1. (military) A large artillery gun or one of the largest-caliber naval guns (as on a battleship).
    • 1870 Dec. 2, "The Suez Mail ↗," Southland Times (New Zealand), Issue 1342, p. 2:
      London, Nov. 1: The big guns opened fire on Paris today at mid-day.
    • 1968 March 26, "[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tSFgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZG4NAAAAIBAJ&pg=3437,4076814&dq=her-big-guns+battleship&hl=en Battleship begins Viet Tests]," Evening News (Newburgh, NY, USA), p. 1 (retrieved 19 Aug. 2011):
      The smaller crew was possible because the battleship was stripped of all but her big guns.
    • 2008 Dec. 6, William J. Bennett and John Cribb, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20110812195412/http://www.dcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=36 Deadly resolve answered attack ]," Daily Courier (USA) (retrieved 19 Aug. 2011):
      The USS West Virginia became one of many symbols of American resolve. . . . Her big guns pounded the enemy at the battles of Leyte Gulf, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.
  2. (idiomatic, by extension, usually pluralized) A person, group, thing, or course of action that is powerful, influential, or particularly effective.
    • 1888 June 6, "A Great Day for Big Guns ↗," New York Times (retrieved 20 Aug. 2011):
      This has been a great day for the big guns. This does not refer to Prof. Lummis and the other big guns of the Board of Visitors, for every day is a great one for them.
    • 1957 Aug. 28, Ed Wilks, "[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BgkeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=30UEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6689,5400266&dq=big-gun&hl=en Sports]" (Headline), Park City News (USA), p. 15 (retrieved 20 Aug. 2011):
      Berra Is Big Gun In Yankee Victory
    • 2001 June 29, Frank Pellegrini, "[http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,165668,00.html Whatever Happened to Military Restructuring?]," Time:
      And the administration's big guns — Bush, Cheney, Powell and once-and-current Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld — had the clout to make bold and necessary changes.
    • 2007 March 26, Yuri Wuensch, "Eric Clapton simply masterful ↗," canoe.ca (Canada) (retrieved 20 Aug. 2011):
      Clapton kept the big guns for last, finishing the set off with Derek and the Domino's "Layla", complete with the haunting instrumentals at song's end.
Synonyms


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