Big Four (English, name)
expansion: the Big Four pl (plural only)
Senses:
glosses: The four top Allied powers of World War I and their leaders: David Lloyd George of Britain, Georges Clemenceau of France, Vittorio Emanuele Orlando of Italy and Woodrow Wilson of the United States, who met at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 at Versailles.
tags: historical
plural
plural-only
glosses: A group of four entrepreneurs who formed the Central Pacific Railroad.
tags: plural
plural-only
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: A jazz rhythm derived from the marching band beat.
tags: plural
plural-only
topics: business
finance
glosses: Any group of four major or largest corporations in a given industry, especially when such a small group has oligopoly or near-oligopoly.
The four largest banks in any of various countries, or (internationally) the Federal Reserve, People's Bank of China, Bank of Japan, and European Central Bank.
tags: plural
plural-only
topics: business
engineering
finance
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
technology
glosses: Any group of four major or largest corporations in a given industry, especially when such a small group has oligopoly or near-oligopoly.
The four largest corporations of Big Tech during the 2000s–2020s, usually defined as Alphabet (f.k.a. Google), Meta (f.k.a. Facebook), Amazon, and Apple.
tags: plural
plural-only
topics: accounting
business
finance
glosses: Any group of four major or largest corporations in a given industry, especially when such a small group has oligopoly or near-oligopoly.
The four largest global auditing firms, comprising Deloitte, Ernst & Young (EY), KPMG, and PwC.
tags: plural
plural-only
glosses: Any group of four major or largest corporations in a given industry, especially when such a small group has oligopoly or near-oligopoly.
The four largest railway companies in the United Kingdom in the period 1923–1947: the Great Western Railway (GWR); the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS); the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER); and the Southern Railway (SR).
tags: UK
historical
plural
plural-only
topics: fashion
lifestyle
glosses: Any group of four major or largest corporations in a given industry, especially when such a small group has oligopoly or near-oligopoly.
The clothing trade shows (“fashion weeks”) in Paris, London, New York, and Milan.
tags: plural
plural-only
Forms:
form: the Big Four
tags: canonical
plural
form: Big 4
tags: alternative