size
Pronunciation Noun

size (plural sizes)

  1. (obsolete, outside, dialects) An assize. [from 14th c.]
    • 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society 1973, page 560:
      I know you would have women above the law, but it is all a lye; I heard his lordship say at size, that no one is above the law.
  2. (obsolete) A regulation determining the amount of money paid in fees, taxes etc. [14th-18th c.]
  3. (obsolete) A fixed standard for the magnitude, quality, quantity etc. of goods, especially food and drink. [15th-17th c.]
    • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act II, scene iv]:
      to scant my sizes
  4. The dimensions or magnitude of a thing; how big something is. [from 15th c.]
    The size of the building seemed to have increased since I was last there.
  5. (obsolete) A regulation, piece of ordinance. [15th c.]
  6. A specific set of dimensions for a manufactured article, especially clothing. [from 16th c.]
    I don't think we have the red one in your size.
  7. (graph theory) A number of edges in a graph. [from 20th c.]
  8. (figurative, dated) Degree of rank, ability, character, etc.
    • 1692, Roger L'Estrange, ''Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists
      men of a less size and quality
    • RQ
      the middle or lower size of people
  9. An instrument consisting of a number of perforated gauges fastened together at one end by a rivet, used for measuring the size of pearls.
Synonyms Translations Translations Verb

size (sizes, present participle sizing; past and past participle sized)

  1. (transitive) To adjust the size of; to make a certain size.
    • 1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: Printed by W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret, OCLC 1086746628 ↗:
      a statute […] to size weights, and measures
  2. (transitive) To classify or arrange by size.
    1. (military) To take the height of men, in order to place them in the ranks according to their stature.
    2. (mining) To sift (pieces of ore or metal) in order to separate the finer from the coarser parts.
  3. (transitive, colloquial) To approximate the dimensions, estimate the size of.
  4. (intransitive) To take a greater size; to increase in size.
    • after 1633 (first published), John Donne, Farewell to Love
      Our desires give them fashion, and so, / As they wax lesser, fall, as they size, grow.
  5. (UK, Cambridge University, obsolete) To order food or drink from the buttery; hence, to enter a score, as upon the buttery book.
  6. (transitive, obsolete) To swell; to increase the bulk of.
Translations Translations Noun

size (plural sizes)

  1. A thin, weak glue used as primer for paper or canvas intended to be painted upon.
  2. Wallpaper paste.
  3. The thickened crust on coagulated blood.
  4. Any viscous substance, such as gilder's varnish.
Translations Translations Verb

size (sizes, present participle sizing; past and past participle sized)

  1. (transitive) To apply glue or other primer to a surface which is to be painted.
Translations


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