Great. n.s. [from the adjective.]

1. The whole; the gross; the whole in a lump.

   To let out thy harvest by great or by day,
   Let this by experience lead thee the way:
   By great will deceive thee with ling'ring it out,
   By day will dispatch. Tusser's Husbandry for August.

   It were behoveful, for the strength of the navy, that no ships should be builded by the great; for by daily experience they are found to be weak and imperfect. Raliegh's Essays.

   He did at length so many slain forget,
   And lost the tale, and took them by the great. Dryden.

   Carpenters, for uniformity, generally make them so, unless they build an house by the great, and are agreed for the sum of money. Moxon's Mech. Exer.

   I set aside one day in a week for lovers, and interpret by the great for any gentlewoman who is turned of sixty. Addison.