big brother
nounDefinition of big brother
1 : an older brother
2 : a man who serves as a companion, father figure, and role model for a boy
3 capitalized both Bs [ Big Brother, personification of the power of the state in 1984 (1949) by George Orwell ]
a : the leader of an authoritarian state or movement
b : an all-powerful government or organization monitoring and directing people's actions
Examples of big brother in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Artemis, the 2017 follow-up book by The Martian author Andy Weir, is following its big brother to the big screen. — Andrew Moseman, Popular Mechanics, "'Artemis' by Andy Weir Is Getting the Movie Treatment," 17 July 2018 Princess Charlotte was born in 2015, and made her debut on the Kensington Royal official Instagram page in a series of portraits, taken by mom Kate Middleton, with big brother Prince George. — Isabel Greenberg, Harper's BAZAAR, "Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's Baby Could Share a Birthday with Princess Charlotte," 15 Oct. 2018 The littlest Gaines boy is already learning from big brothers Drake, 13, and Duke, 10. — Taysha Murtaugh, Country Living, "All the Adorable Photos of Chip and Joanna Gaines's New Baby, Crew Gaines, So Far," 23 July 2018 For true crime buffs, The Staircase documentary is seen as a sort-of big brother companion piece to Netflix's popular Making A Murderer series. — Morgan Baila, refinery29.com, "Everything New In Netflix’s The Staircase," 8 June 2018 His tape speaks for itself, big brother’s cutups of as dominating an interior offensive lineman as college football’s seen in years. — Zak Keefer, Indianapolis Star, "From picked on to punishing: The story of new Colt Quenton Nelson," 27 Apr. 2018 About how the thought of his big brother, scared in the smoke, still cripples him. — Mike Newall, Philly.com, "After losing a brother, Joe Quinn thought war would save him - now he's saving other veterans | Mike Newall," 15 June 2018 The newborn's big brother Prince George's full name is George Alexander Louis, and his father Prince William's full name is William Arthur Philip Louis. — Erica Gonzales, Harper's BAZAAR, "This Is How You Actually Pronounce Prince Louis' Name," 27 Apr. 2018 That an 11 seed from the Missouri Valley Conference with players deemed too small, too slow, too unathletic, too something by college basketball’s big brothers can march through March, making one last-second shot after another. — Mark Zeigler, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Enjoy Loyola Chicago, because the NCAA is trying to kill off Cinderella," 30 Mar. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'big brother.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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