Wiktionary

by and large

English edit

Etymology edit

From sailing: a ship may (or may not) sail well both close by the wind, and large, downwind, with sheets extended.

Pronunciation edit

  • Audio (AU)(file)

Adverb edit

by and large (not comparable)

  1. (set phrase, focus) Mostly, generally; with few exceptions.
    Synonyms: for the most part, generally, mostly, on the whole, usually; see also Thesaurus:mostly
    It was, by and large, an unexceptional presentation.
    • 2023 February 23, Michael Levenson, quoting Sheila Williams, “Science Fiction Magazines Battle a Flood of Chatbot-Generated Stories”, in The New York Times‎[1], →ISSN:
      “The people doing this by and large don’t have any real concept of how to tell a story, and neither do any kind of A.I.,” Ms. Williams said on Wednesday.

Translations edit

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