fat

comparative fatter · superlative fattest

1. derogatorysometimesCarrying more fat than usual on one's body; plump; not lean or thin.

   The fattest pig should yield the most meat.

   5 more examples

   The fat man had problems going through the door.

   1932, New Orleans (La.) Board of Health, Vox Sanitatis While Hennessey is pouring the milk, the fat guy with the big pot-belly, will come over and write a lot of junk in his little book.

   […] Ruth‐ellen Stark and Elizabeth Ryan are about ten times fatter, but even they can't compare to Bruce…”

   1976 September 29, Richard Flaste, “Viewing Childhood As it Is”, in The New York Times

   And there he stood, as uncouth as ever, naked as the day he was born, but fatter and chinnier and even more self-satisfied […]

   1994, Craig Brown, The hounding of John Thomas

   Because, really, who would like the fat girl? Sebastian said I was crazy for thinking that.

   2014, Isabel Quintero, Gabi, a Girl in Pieces, Cinco Puntos Press, →ISBN, page 46

2. Thick; large.

   The fat wallets of the men from the city brought joy to the peddlers.

   1 more example

   The thickest salmon, the curdiest trout, the fattest partridge, and the most tender woodcock smoked on his board, and, rumor said, cooked with a delicacy that more pretentious houses could not rival.

   1861, Charles James Lever, A Day's Ride

   Synonyms: thick

3. Bulbous; rotund.

   So this was my future home, I thought! […] Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.

   1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC

4. Bountiful.
5. Oily; greasy; unctuous; rich (said of food).
6. obsoleteExhibiting the qualities of a fat animal; coarse; heavy; gross; dull; stupid.

   1855 July 21, Ralph Waldo Emerson, letter to Walter Whitman making our western wits fat & mean

   1 more example

   Make the heart of this people fat,[…]

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 6:10, column 1

7. Fertile; productive.

   a fat soil; a fat pasture

   2 more examples

   The fat alluvial soil left by the retiring waters was sown by the peasants and produced crops of corn, rice, and cotton.

   1918, James George Frazer, Folk-Lore In The Old Testament, volume 1, page 161

   Land was fatter, soil was rich, hands were many

   1974, “Which Way Africa”, performed by Tunji Oyelana

8. Rich; producing a large income; desirable.

   a fat benefice; a fat office;  a fat job

   2 more examples

   It's a fat contract for a fat part in the film, so he’ll grown fat on the profits.

   now parson of Troston, a fat living in Suffolk

   1882, Thomas Carlyle, Reminiscences

9. Abounding in riches; affluent; fortunate.

   , "Why Christ's Doctrine was Rejected" persons grown fat and wealthy by a long and successful imposture

10. datedmediaOf a character which enables the compositor to make large wages; said of matter containing blank, cuts, or many leads, etc.

    a fat take; a fat page

11. golfBeing a shot in which the ground is struck before the ball.

    Hitting a thin shot from a fairway bunker is more productive than hitting a fat shot.

    1992, DeDe Owens, Linda K. Bunker, Advanced Golf: Steps to Success, page 81

12. entertainmentOf a role: significant; major; meaty.

    He seeks a fat role in a hit show, lest he diminish his market value.

    1997, Harold Clurman, On Directing, page 12

    2 more examples

    He is what the theatre calls a “fat” role — a man suddenly confronted by a terrible duty. He is called upon to revenge the murder of his father and to right a wrong against the state.

    1965, Edmund Fuller, A Pageant of the Theatre, page 131

    Joe Hirakawa, formerly of the Seattle Civic Repertory Theatre, was a waterfront peddler in “Madame Butterfly” and had a fat role in “Beauty Parlor,” an indie.

    2012, Greg Robinson, Larry S. Tajiri, Pacific Citizens, page 9

13. slangBeing greatly or substantially such; real.

    1970-1975, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure I'd've liked to hang around but the guys were in a fat hurry.

14. entertainmentHaving a full or rich sound with strong bass and low-midrange presence.
15. computingCarrying additional data or functionality.

    fat client

    1 more example

    a fat pointer

16. alternativeAlternative form of phat.

    This isn't a place to talk about “hitting the decks” and making “fat beats”—you're not selling to an industry peer.

    2011, Joe Shambro, How to Start a Home-based DJ Business, page 19

plural fats

1. uncountableusuallyA specialized animal tissue with high lipid content, used for long-term storage of energy: fat tissue.

   Mammals that hibernate have plenty of fat to keep them warm during the winter.

   1. uncountableusuallySuch tissue as food: the fatty portion of (or trimmings from) meat cuts.

      Ask the butcher for a few pounds of fat for our greens.

2. countableusuallyA lipid that is solid at room temperature, which fat tissue contains and which is also found in the blood circulation; sometimes, a refined substance chemically resembling such naturally occurring lipids.

   Dietary fat is not the evil that it was once misapprehended to be; carbs are increasingly recognized as a bigger driver of atherosclerosis via chronic insulin resistance and the vascular processes that cascade from it.

   1 more example

   In fact, the fats that are most stable and least likely to oxidize with heat are the highly saturated fats we've long been told to avoid—lard, tallow, butter, and coconut and palm oils.

   2018, Kristin Lawless, Formerly known as food, →ISBN, page 32

3. uncountableusuallyThat part of an organization deemed wasteful.

   We need to trim the fat in this company

4. slanguncountableusuallyAn erection.

   I saw Daniel crack a fat.

5. uncountableusuallygolfA poorly played shot where the ball is struck by the top part of the club head. (see also thin, shank, toe)
6. uncountableusuallyThe best or richest productions; the best part.

   to live on the fat of the land

7. dateduncountableusuallymediaWork containing much blank, or its equivalent, and therefore profitable to the compositor.
8. derogatoryinformaluncountableusuallyA fat person.

   Prefer military, bodybuilders, jocks. No smokers or fats please.

   1996, Roger Stone, "Local Swing Fever", highlighted by National Enquirer in September 1996 and Daily Mail in January 2019

   Synonyms: fatty

9. AustraliauncountableusuallyA beef cattle fattened for sale.

   Before riding over to the fats we'll have a look about us.

   1934, Henry G. Lamond, An Aviary On The Plains, page 7

   1 more example

   He was droving his mob of fats to Derby, to ship by the southern boat for Fremantle.

   1937, Ion L. Idriess, Over the Range, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, published 1947, page 11

present singular third person fats · participle present fatting · participle past fatted · past fatted

1. archaictransitiveTo make fat; to fatten.

   kill the fatted calf

2. archaicintransitiveTo become fat; to fatten.
3. transitivegolfTo hit (a golf ball) with a fat shot.

   1 more example

   “On this one hole, Donald hits his second and fats it into the water,” Faxon remembers. “But he quickly says to me, ‘Hey, throw me another ball; they weren’t looking.’ So I do. But he fats that one into the water, too. So he drives up and drops where he should’ve dropped the first time and hits it on the green.”

   2019 April 2, Rick Reilly, How and why President Trump cheats at golf — even when he’s playing against Tiger Woods, archived from the original on 29 Mar 2022

plural fats

1. obsoleteA large tub or vessel for water, wine, or other liquids; a cistern.

   And the floores ſhall bee full of wheate, and the fats ſhall ouerflowe with wine and oyle.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Joel 2:24, column 1

   1 more example

   In 1431 New College purchases brewing vessels, under the names of a mash fat, for 6s. 10d., a wort fat for 2s., a 'Gilleding' tub for 2s. 6d., and two tunning barrels at 8d. each, a leaden boiler for 24s., another for 12s., and a great copper beer pot for 13s. 4d.

   1882, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume 4, page 429

2. obsoleteA dry measure, generally equal to nine bushels.

plural fats

1. A fop or dandy.

   I took my revenge on this ‘fat’, by making him as fatuitous as I possibly could.

   1853, Charlotte Brontë, Villette

   1 more example

   Ursula was amazed and indignant at the way he made small-talk; he was adept as any fat in Christendom.

   1921, DH Lawrence, Women in Love, Vintage, published 2008, page 288

plural FATs

1. abbreviationacronymcountableuncountablecomputingAcronym of file allocation table.
   1. countableoftenspecificallyuncountablecomputingFAT16 or FAT16B.
   2. countablesometimesspecificallyuncountablecomputingFAT12.
   3. countablespecificallyuncountableMicrosoft WindowscomputingFAT12 or FAT16, without drawing a distinction between the two.
2. countableuncountablebiochemistryAny of a series of genes and their equivalent proteins that are associated with cell proliferation.
3. EnglandWalesabbreviationcountableinitialismlawInitialism of full agricultural tenancy.