size

plural sizes

1. countableuncountableThe dimensions or magnitude of a thing; how big something is.First known use 15th c.

   That size hail can be a killer!

   3 more examples

   The size of the building seemed to have increased since I was last there.

   Ashley: Look at the size of that ship! Kaidan: The Ascension. Flagship of the Citadel fleet. Joker: Well, size isn't everything. Ashley: Why so touchy, Joker? Joker: I'm just saying you need firepower, too.

   2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Normandy SR-1

   [The researchers] noticed many of their pieces of [plastic marine] debris sported surface pits around two microns across. Such pits are about the size of a bacterial cell. Closer examination showed that some of these pits did, indeed, contain bacteria, […].

   2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845

2. countableuncountableA specific set of dimensions for a manufactured article, especially clothing.First known use 16th c.

   I don't think we have the red one in your size.

   1 more example

   What size are you? I mean, what size shoes do you take?

3. countableuncountablegraph theoryThe number of edges in a graph.First known use 20th c.
4. countabledatedfigurativelyuncountableDegree of rank, ability, character, etc.

   men of a less size and quality**

   1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC

   1 more example

   the middle or lower size of people

   1720, Jonathan Swift, A Letter to a Young Clergyman

5. countableuncountableAn instrument consisting of a number of perforated gauges fastened together at one end by a rivet, used for measuring the size of pearls

   Edward H[enry] Knight (1877), “Size”, in Knight’s American Mechanical Dictionary. […], volumes III (REA–ZYM), New York, N.Y.: Hurd and Houghton […], →OCLC..

6. USabbreviationcountableellipsisuncountableEllipsis of chili size (“hamburger served with chili con carne”).
7. countabledialectalobsoleteuncountableAn assize.First known use 14th c.

   I know you would have women above the law, but it is all a lye; I heard his lordship say at size, that no one is above the law.

   1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society, published 1973, page 560

8. countableobsoleteuncountableA regulation, piece of ordinance.First known use 15th c.
9. countableobsoleteuncountableA regulation determining the amount of money paid in fees, taxes etc.First known use 14th–18th c.
10. countableobsoleteuncountableA fixed standard for the magnitude, quality, quantity etc. of goods, especially food and drink.First known use 15th–17th c.

    to scant my sizes

    c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv]

present singular third person sizes · participle present sizing · participle past sized · past sized

1. transitiveTo adjust the size of; to make a certain size.

   a statute […] to size weights, and measures

   1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret, →OCLC

   1 more example

   I milled all the stock to size, and because it was air-dried, I did it in stages. […] Once the material is sized, it's time to cut the finger joints, which are really the star of the show.

   2026 August 28, Logan Wittmer, “Whiskey Cabinet”, in Popular Woodworking, volume 290, number 4, pages 53-54

2. To classify or arrange by size.
   1. transitivegovernmentTo take the height of men, in order to place them in the ranks according to their stature.
   2. transitivebusinessTo sift (pieces of ore or metal) in order to separate the finer from the coarser parts.
   3. transitivebiochemistryTo separate different proteins by molecular weight.

      However, SDS-PAGE consistently sized most of the proteins smaller than the ProteoAnalyzer, resulting in a larger percent difference between the two systems.

      2024, Agilent Technologies, “Archived copy”, in Protein Sizing with the Agilent ProteoAnalyzer System, archived from the original on 16 Jun 2024

3. colloquialtransitiveTo approximate the dimensions, estimate the size of.
4. intransitiveTo take a greater size; to increase in size.

   after 1633 (first published), John Donne, Farewell to Love Our desires give them fashion, and so, / As they wax lesser, fall, as they size, grow.

5. UKobsoleteCambridge UniversityTo order food or drink from the buttery; hence, to enter a score, as upon the buttery book.
6. obsoletetransitiveTo swell; to increase the bulk of.

   2. Queen.[…]lend us a knee; But touch the ground for us no longer time Then a Doves motion, when the head's pluckt off: ell him if he i'th blood cizd field, lay swolne Showing the Sun his Teeth; grinning at the Moone What you would doe.

   1613–1614 (date written), John Fletcher, William Shak[e]speare, The Two Noble Kinsmen: […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, for Iohn Waterson; […], published 1634, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 1

plural sizes

1. countableuncountableA thin, weak glue used as primer for paper or canvas intended to be painted upon.

   The beginning of a new episode of work for Bradly was an agitated niggling over six-by-four squares of cardboard coated with size and white lead, prepared by himself to save an experimental waste of canvas.

   1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 40

2. countableuncountableWallpaper paste.
3. countableuncountableThe thickened crust on coagulated blood.
4. countableuncountableAny viscous substance, such as gilder's varnish.

present singular third person sizes · participle present sizing · participle past sized · past sized

1. transitiveTo apply glue or other primer to a surface which is to be painted.
2. transitiveTo apply a thickening agent (such as cornstarch or gelatin) to warp threads to prevent abrasion or unraveling during weaving.

   After spinning, the singles are either dyed for sale as thread or sized with cornstarch, woven into fabric, and sewn into garments and accessories that are dyed after completion.

   2026, Elise Young, “Yagaa: Reviving Sericulture in Southern Mexico”, in Spin Off, volume L, number 1, pages 16-17

plural sizes

1. alternativeAlternative form of sice (“number six in dice games”).