big if
Appearance
English
[edit]Noun
[edit]- An unlikely but necessary condition.
- 1868 Montgomery Schuyler, The Pioneer Church: Or, The Story of a New Parish in the West (Boston: Riverside Press, 1868), p. 2:
- "If I were only old enough," said Kate, "and knew enough to teach a day-school, I would begin at once and save half of my money [...]."
- "Oh!" Edward replied, "there's a big if in the way."
- 2004, Dale Brown, Dreamland: Strike Zone, HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 217,
- "If they believe us," said the admiral, "and that's a big if, then we're in a race with them to find this thing. Because if they grab it—"
- Coordinate term: small if
- 1868 Montgomery Schuyler, The Pioneer Church: Or, The Story of a New Parish in the West (Boston: Riverside Press, 1868), p. 2:
Translations
[edit]unlikely but necessary condition
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See also
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “big if”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
- “big if”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
- “and it s a big if” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.