big-screen

1 of 2

adjective

1
: relating to movies or to the movie industry
She worked on the novel's big-screen adaptation.
Big-screen villains that resemble America's real-world enemies are as old as the movies themselves.Vanity Fair
2
: having a large screen
a big-screen television
And in my experience testing big-screen phones …, it really is far more difficult to do anything on them one-handed, including typing.John Gruber

big screen

2 of 2

noun

: the movie medium often as contrasted to television
a story adapted for the big screen

Examples of big-screen in a Sentence

Noun many actors now take roles for both television and the big screen
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Adjective
For a three-day period in March on the Newman Scoring Stage on the Fox Studio lot in Century City, a 60-person choir sang choral texture while scenes played out on a big-screen behind it. Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 19 June 2025 Play zones were placed near food and beer gardens with big-screen TVs, so parents can keep an eye on the game while their kids stay entertained. Asli Pelit, New York Times, 18 June 2025
Noun
However, that film was embraced by audiences and managed to endure at the box office, ultimately ending its big screen run with $155 million domestically and $496 million globally. Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 22 June 2025 Prior to Pearl Harbor, Beckinsale – who is the daughter of late UK TV comedy star Richard Beckinsale but has long made her home in Hollywood – made her big screen breakthrough in Kenneth Branagh’s Much Ado About Nothing (1993). Caroline Frost, Deadline, 14 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for big-screen

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1914, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1914, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of big-screen was in 1914

Browse Nearby Words

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Cite this Entry

“Big-screen.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/big-screen. Accessed 1 Jul. 2025.

Kids Definition

big screen

noun
: the motion-picture medium as contrasted to television
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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