grand scheme

The long term; the complete picture of something. Typically used in the phrase "in the grand scheme of things." I know you're worried about getting a bad grade on this test, but you're such a great student that I doubt it will matter in the grand scheme of things.

See also: grand, scheme

References in classic literature ?

The facts, however, will prove to be linked and banded together by one grand scheme, devised and conducted by a master spirit; one set of characters, also, continues throughout, appearing occasionally, though sometimes at long intervals, and the whole enterprise winds up by a regular catastrophe; so that the work, without any labored attempt at artificial construction, actually possesses much of that unity so much sought after in works of fiction, and considered so important to the interest of every history.

View in context

The details of the grand scheme which had suggested themselves in outline only, up to that period, occurred to me, in all their masterly combination, at the sight of the sleeping face.

My grand scheme, unassailable hitherto, had its weak place now--no efforts on my part could alter the fatal event of the 25th.

View in context

For a long time she talked to me earnestly of a grand scheme on which she had set her heart, and ever and anon she tapped on me as if to get admittance for her ideas.

View in context

This small family of birds is one of those which, from its varied relations to other families, although at present offering only difficulties to the systematic naturalist, ultimately may assist in revealing the grand scheme, common to the present and past ages, on which organized beings have been created.

View in context

So before you look to your kids or neighbors for suspicious missing fruit, vegetables or destroyed areas in your garden, consider you might be just an incidental thought in the grand scheme of nature.

YOUR GARDEN MAY BE A LINK IN HUNGRY WILDLIFE'S FOOD CHAIN

This game will be vital for both clubs and Loughgall boss Jimmy Gardiner says everyone connected with the County Armagh outfit realise how important the fixture could be in the grand scheme of things.

VILLAGERS HAVE GALL TO PLAY FOR

Might not be important in the grand scheme of things, but it looks crap and opens up www .

Amy's i: Net News

Maybe to the sheltered folk who remember Ali only as a Muslim-converted, draft-dodging, loud-mouth poet who got a lot of time on ``Wide World of Sports'' during the '70s, there is an element of surprise - he was a womanizer, hung out a lot with Malcolm X and struggled with understanding his importance in the grand scheme.

THE WRITING ON (AND OFF) THE WALL FOR SOME, `ALI' LACKING THAT STIFF JAB

Whatever that gap is when you divide it by three it's not a significant amount in the grand scheme of a $30 billion plus industry,'' said Jeffrey B.

NEGOTIATORS RETURN TO TABLE HOLLYWOOD WRITERS, PRODUCERS TO RESUME CONTRACT DISCUSSIONS

Just remember, in the grand scheme of things, less Arnie Spanier is a far, far better Arnie Spanier.

THIS WEEK'S PRESSING QUESTIONS

It was, in the grand scheme of Clinton-Gore flip-flops, a minor one, compared to say, Bill Clinton's evolving position on China or Gore's journey from pro-lifer to ardent abortion defender.

CLINTONISM'S END HERALDS BETTER DAYS

All of which only reinforces the foundation of his grand scheme.

OLYMPICS: A TALE OF THE TAPE

That's because the mysteries that intrigue Robbins - ``mystery with a capital M,'' he explains - are the age-old questions of philosophy, religion, the quest for universal truth and the individual's role in the grand scheme of things.

ROBBINS: MAN OF MYSTERY AUTHOR'S PEARLS OF WISDOM UNEARTH HIS TRUE IDENTITY

Geophysicists have had a hard time understanding how the motion in Antarctica fits into the grand scheme of global plate tectonics, Stock said.