outdoors

as big as all outdoors

Very large. This phrase is typically used to describe expansive indoor spaces. After living in a studio apartment, my new place feels as big as all outdoors! We're going to need a warehouse as big as all outdoors to hold all of this merchandise! Our back yard is as big as all outdoors, and our dog absolutely loves it.

See also: all, big, outdoors

the great outdoors

Collectively, all outdoor space, especially wild places used for recreational activities such as hiking or camping; nature. It's great to get away from the city every now and then and spend a bit of time in the great outdoors! We lived right at the base of the mountains, so we always spent our free time in the great outdoors as kids.

See also: great, outdoors

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

*big as all outdoors

Cliché very big, usually referring to an indoor space of some kind. (*Also: as ~.) You should see Bob's living room. It's as big as all outdoors! The new movie theater is as big as all outdoors.

See also: all, big, outdoors

*big as life (and twice as ugly)

 and *large as life (and twice as ugly); bigger than life (and twice as ugly)

Cliché a colorful way of saying that a person or a thing appeared, often surprisingly or dramatically, in a particular place. (*Also: as ~.) The little child just stood there as big as life and laughed very hard. I opened the door, and there was Tom as large as life. I came home and found this cat in my chair, as big as life and twice as ugly.

See also: big, life

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

big as life

Also, large as life. In person, as in And there was Mary, big as life, standing right in front of me. This phrase transfers the same size as in real life (life-size) to an actual appearance. Sometimes this term is embellished with and quite as natural, presumably alluding to a likeness of a person or thing that closely resembles the real thing. A similar addition is and twice as natural, which doesn't make sense. [Late 1800s]

2. Also, larger than life; big as all outdoors. On a grand scale, as in The soap opera could well be called a larger-than-life drama, or That friend of his was as big as all outdoors. This phrase can be used either literally, for larger than life-size (second example) or figuratively. The phrase all outdoors has been used to compare something or someone to an immensity since the early 1800s.

See also: big, life

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

the great outdoors

the open air; outdoor life. informal

See also: great, outdoors

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017