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By and large means “in general” or "on the whole" in most contexts, but in sailors’ lingo of yore, whence the phrase arose, by and large described a vessel alternately sailing as directly into the wind as possible (typically within about 45 degrees of the wind)—that is, by—and away from the direction from which the wind is blowing, with the wind hitting the vessel’s widest point—that is, large. (Note that this by also appears in the term full and by: "sailing as directly into the wind as possible and with all sails full.") William Bourne’s 1578 book Inventions or Devises offers insight into the phrase’s original use: “… to make a ship to draw or go but little into the water, and to hold a good wind, and to sail well both by and large, were very necessary …” As has happened with much nautical jargon, the phrase eventually came ashore. By and large, landlubbers welcomed it, first in the sense "in many directions" or "in all ways," and ultimately with its present meaning of "in general."
Examples of by and large in a Sentence
Randall Colburn, EW.com, 13 Mar. 2025
Marlowe is intent on criminal justice, and on how easily it is rusted and bent, but social justice, by and large, leaves him unperturbed.
—Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2025
French mathematicians were by and large content to keep going.
—Solomon Adams, WIRED, 23 Feb. 2025
Yet the real people who dominate the scammer entertainment of the 2020s are not, by and large, powerful politicians or titans of industry.
—Judy Berman, TIME, 6 Feb. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“By and large.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/by%20and%20large. Accessed 21 Mar. 2025.
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