SIZE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does size mean? 

• SIZE (noun)
  The noun SIZE has 5 senses:

1. the physical magnitude of something (how big it is)

2. the property resulting from being one of a series of graduated measurements (as of clothing)

3. any glutinous material used to fill pores in surfaces or to stiffen fabrics

4. the actual state of affairs

5. a large magnitude

  Familiarity information: SIZE used as a noun is common.

• SIZE (adjective)
  The adjective SIZE has 1 sense:

1. (used in combination) sized

  Familiarity information: SIZE used as an adjective is very rare.

• SIZE (verb)
  The verb SIZE has 3 senses:

1. cover or stiffen or glaze a porous material with size or sizing (a glutinous substance)

2. sort according to size

3. make to a size; bring to a suitable size

  Familiarity information: SIZE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SIZE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The physical magnitude of something (how big it is)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

a wolf is about the size of a large dog

Hypernyms ("size" is a kind of...):

magnitude (the property of relative size or extent (whether large or small))

Attribute:

big; large (above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent)

little; small (limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "size"):

circumference; perimeter (the size of something as given by the distance around it)

bigness; largeness (the property of having a relatively great size)

littleness; smallness (the property of having a relatively small size)

distance; length (size of the gap between two places)

Derivation:

size (make to a size; bring to a suitable size)

size (sort according to size)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The property resulting from being one of a series of graduated measurements (as of clothing)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

he wears a size 13 shoe

Hypernyms ("size" is a kind of...):

property (a basic or essential attribute shared by all members of a class)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "size"):

large (a garment size for a large person)

tall (a garment size for a tall person)

stout (a garment size for a large or heavy person)

small (a garment size for a small person)

regular (a garment size for persons of average height and weight)

4to; quarto (the size of a book whose pages are made by folding a sheet of paper twice to form four leaves)

petite (a garment size for short or slender women)

outsize (an unusual garment size (especially one that is very large))

8vo; eightvo; octavo (the size of a book whose pages are made by folding a sheet of paper three times to form eight leaves)

number (a clothing measurement)

extra large (a garment size for a very large person)

Derivation:

size (make to a size; bring to a suitable size)

size (sort according to size)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Any glutinous material used to fill pores in surfaces or to stiffen fabrics

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

size; sizing

Context example:

size gives body to a fabric

Hypernyms ("size" is a kind of...):

filler (used for filling cracks or holes in a surface)

Derivation:

size (cover or stiffen or glaze a porous material with size or sizing (a glutinous substance))

Sense 4

Meaning:

The actual state of affairs

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

size; size of it

Context example:

she hates me, that's about the size of it

Hypernyms ("size" is a kind of...):

situation; state of affairs (the general state of things; the combination of circumstances at a given time)

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A large magnitude

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

the only city of any size in that area

Hypernyms ("size" is a kind of...):

magnitude (the property of relative size or extent (whether large or small))

• SIZE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(used in combination) sized

Context example:

average-size house

Similar:

sized (having a specified size)

Domain usage:

combining form (a bound form used only in compounds)

• SIZE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they size    ... he / she / it sizes   
Past simple: sized   
Past participle: sized   
-ing form: sizing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cover or stiffen or glaze a porous material with size or sizing (a glutinous substance)

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "size" is one way to...):

coat; surface (put a coat on; cover the surface of; furnish with a surface)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

size; sizing (any glutinous material used to fill pores in surfaces or to stiffen fabrics)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Sort according to size

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "size" is one way to...):

assort; class; classify; separate; sort; sort out (arrange or order by classes or categories)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

size (the property resulting from being one of a series of graduated measurements (as of clothing))

size (the physical magnitude of something (how big it is))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Make to a size; bring to a suitable size

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "size" is one way to...):

change magnitude (change in size or magnitude)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "size"):

scale (size or measure according to a scale)

resize (change the size of; make the size more appropriate)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Also:

size up (to look at critically or searchingly, or in minute detail)

Derivation:

size (the property resulting from being one of a series of graduated measurements (as of clothing))

size (the physical magnitude of something (how big it is))

 Context examples 

Mr. Allen's house, he was sure, must be exactly of the true size for rational happiness.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

The thing was extremely small, even for me, and I can hardly imagine that it could have floated with a full-sized man.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Among features indicating benign character are a small size, and absence of vascular invasion.

(Adenoma of the Mouse Pulmonary System, NCI Thesaurus/MMHCC)

The ratio measurement of the allergen wheal size to the positive control wheal size in an allergen skin test.

(Allergen Skin Response Index, NCI Thesaurus)

If left untreated, it may increase in size and destroy the adjacent delicate bones of the middle ear.

(Middle Ear Cholesteatoma, NCI Thesaurus)

It had swollen to the size of his knee.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Then there was the size of it—it was twice yours, sir.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He was yet to learn that for size and weight the weasel was the most ferocious, vindictive, and terrible of all the killers of the Wild.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing back a little from the road.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

My muscles are growing harder and increasing in size.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)