Grand a. [Compar. Grander superl. Grandest.]
 1. Of large size or extent; great; extensive; hence, relatively great; greatest; chief; principal; as, a grand mountain; a grand army; a grand mistake. “Our grand foe, Satan.”
 Making so bold . . . to unseal
 Their grand commission.   --Shak.
 2. Great in size, and fine or imposing in appearance or impression; illustrious, dignifled, or noble (said of persons); majestic, splendid, magnificent, or sublime (said of things); as, a grand monarch; a grand lord; a grand general; a grand view; a grand conception.
 They are the highest models of expression, the unapproached
 masters of the grand style.   --M. Arnold.
 3. Having higher rank or more dignity, size, or importance than other persons or things of the same name; as, a grand lodge; a grand vizier; a grand piano, etc.
 4. Standing in the second or some more remote degree of parentage or descent; -- generalIy used in composition; as, grandfather, grandson, grandchild, etc.
 What cause
 Mov'd our grand parents, in that happy state,
 Favor'd of Heaven so highly, to fall off
 From their Creator.   --Milton.
 Grand action, a pianoforte action, used in grand pianos, in which special devices are employed to obtain perfect action of the hammer in striking and leaving the string.
 Grand Army of the Republic, an organized voluntary association of men who served in the Union army or navy during the civil war in the United States. The order has chapters, called Posts, throughout the country.
 Grand cross. (a) The highest rank of knighthood in the Order of the Bath. (b) A knight grand cross.
 Grand cordon, the cordon or broad ribbon, identified with the highest grade in certain honorary orders; hence, a person who holds that grade.
 Grand days Eng. Law, certain days in the terms which are observed as holidays in the inns of court and chancery (Candlemas, Ascension, St. John Baptist's, and All Saints' Days); called also Dies non juridici.
 Grand duchess. (a) The wife or widow of a grand duke. (b) A lady having the sovereignty of a duchy in her own right. (c) In Russia, a daughter of the Czar.
 Grand duke. (a) A sovereign duke, inferior in rank to a king; as, the Grand Duke of Tuscany. (b) In Russia, a son of the Czar. (c) Zool. The European great horned owl or eagle owl (Bubo maximas).
 Grand-guard, or Grandegarde, a piece of plate armor used in tournaments as an extra protection for the left shoulder and breast.
 Grand juror, a member of a grand jury.
 Grand jury Law, a jury of not less than twelve men, and not more than twenty-three, whose duty it is, in private session, to examine into accusations against persons charged with crime, and if they see just cause, then to find bills of indictment against them, to be presented to the court; -- called also grand inquest.
 Grand juryman, a grand juror.
 Grand larceny. Law See under Larceny.
 Grand lodge, the chief lodge, or governing body, among Freemasons and other secret orders.
 Grand master. (a) The head of one of the military orders of knighthood, as the Templars, Hospitallers, etc. (b) The head of the order of Freemasons or of Good Templars, etc.
 Grand paunch, a glutton or gourmand. [Obs.] --Holland.
 Grand pensionary. See under Pensionary.
 Grand piano Mus., a large piano, usually harp-shaped, in which the wires or strings are generally triplicated, increasing the power, and all the mechanism is introduced in the most effective manner, regardless of the size of the instrument.
 Grand relief Sculp., alto relievo.
 Grand Seignior. See under Seignior.
 Grand stand, the principal stand, or erection for spectators, at a, race course, etc.
 Grand vicar Eccl., a principal vicar; an ecclesiastical delegate in France.
 Grand vizier. See under Vizier.
 Syn: -- Magnificent; sublime; majestic; dignified; elevated; stately; august; pompous; lofty; eralted; noble.
 Usage: -- Grand, Magnificent, Sublime. Grand, in reference to objects of taste, is applied to that which expands the mind by a sense of vastness and majesty; magnificent is applied to anything which is imposing from its splendor; sublime describes that which is awful and elevating. A cataract is grand; a rich and varied landscape is magnificent; an overhanging precipice is sublime. “Grandeur admits of degrees and modifications; but magnificence is that which has already reached the highest degree of superiority naturally belonging to the object in question.”

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 Great a. [Compar. Greater superl. Greatest.]
 1. Large in space; of much size; big; immense; enormous; expanded; -- opposed to small and little; as, a great house, ship, farm, plain, distance, length.
 2. Large in number; numerous; as, a great company, multitude, series, etc.
 3. Long continued; lengthened in duration; prolonged in time; as, a great while; a great interval.
 4. Superior; admirable; commanding; -- applied to thoughts, actions, and feelings.
 5. Endowed with extraordinary powers; uncommonly gifted; able to accomplish vast results; strong; powerful; mighty; noble; as, a great hero, scholar, genius, philosopher, etc.
 6. Holding a chief position; elevated: lofty: eminent; distinguished; foremost; principal; as, great men; the great seal; the great marshal, etc.
    He doth object I am too great of birth.   --Shak.
 7. Entitled to earnest consideration; weighty; important; as, a great argument, truth, or principle.
 8. Pregnant; big (with young).
    The ewes great with young.   --Ps. lxxviii. 71.
 9. More than ordinary in degree; very considerable in degree; as, to use great caution; to be in great pain.
 We have all
 Great cause to give great thanks.   --Shak.
 10. Genealogy Older, younger, or more remote, by single generation; -- often used before grand to indicate one degree more remote in the direct line of descent; as, great-grandfather (a grandfather's or a grandmother's father), great-grandson, etc.
 Great bear (Astron.), the constellation Ursa Major.
 Great cattle (Law), all manner of cattle except sheep and yearlings. --Wharton.
 Great charter Eng. Hist., Magna Charta.
 Great circle of a sphere, a circle the plane of which passes through the center of the sphere.
 Great circle sailing, the process or art of conducting a ship on a great circle of the globe or on the shortest arc between two places.
 Great go, the final examination for a degree at the University of Oxford, England; -- called also greats.  --T. Hughes.
 Great guns. Naut. See under Gun.
 The Great Lakes the large fresh-water lakes (Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario) which lie on the northern borders of the United States.
 Great master.  Same as Grand master, under Grand.
 Great organ  Mus., the largest and loudest of the three parts of a grand organ (the others being the choir organ and the swell, and sometimes the pedal organ or foot keys), It is played upon by a separate keyboard, which has the middle position.
 The great powers (of Europe), in modern diplomacy, Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Russia, and Italy.
 Great primer. See under Type.
 Great scale (Mus.), the complete scale; -- employed to designate the entire series of musical sounds from lowest to highest.
 Great sea, the Mediterranean sea. In Chaucer both the Black and the Mediterranean seas are so called.
 Great seal. (a) The principal seal of a kingdom or state. (b) In Great Britain, the lord chancellor  (who is custodian of this seal); also, his office.
 Great tithes. See under Tithes.
 The great, the eminent, distinguished, or powerful.
 The Great Spirit, among the North American Indians, their chief or principal deity.
 To be great (with one), to be intimate or familiar (with him). --Bacon.