Big Ben

Big Ben

noun \-ˈben\

Definition of BIG BEN

1

: a large bell in the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament in London

2

: the tower that houses Big Ben; also : the clock in the tower

Origin of BIG BEN

Sir Benjamin Hall †1867 English Chief Commissioner of Works

First Known Use: 1859

Rhymes with BIG BEN

again, amen, Ardennes, bull pen, Cayenne, Chosen, domaine, doyen, doyenne, Estienne, fen-phen, game hen, hang ten, hapten, Karen, La Tène, light pen, marsh hen, moorhen, peahen, pigpen, Phnom Penh, playpen, RN, Sheyenne, somewhen, Touraine, Turenne

Big Ben

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Big Ben, London.—© Goodshoot/Jupiterimages

Clock housed in the tower at the eastern end of Britain's Houses of Parliament. Designed by Sir Edmund Beckett (1816–1905), Big Ben is famous for its accuracy and its 13-ton bell. The name (for Sir Benjamin Hall, commissioner of works at the time of its installation in 1859) originally applied only to the bell but eventually came to include the clock itself.