big year

noun

An informal competition among birdwatchers to determine who can see or hear the largest number of species of birds within a single calendar year and within a specific geographical area.

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Meanings

nounbig year (plural big years)

plural big years

  1. An informal competition among birdwatchers to determine who can see or hear the largest number of species of birds within a single calendar year and within a specific geographical area.

    And so the record stood. Nobody seemed to be much concerned with it, unlike in Britain or the States where Big Years are hotly contested amongst twitchers.

    2005, Sean Dooley, The Big Twitch, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 21
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see big, year.
Cite this entry
APA

big year. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/big%20year

MLA

“big year.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/big%20year. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “big year,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/big%20year.

Source: big year on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.