Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun A heavy, long-range howitzer used by Germany in World War I

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From German dicke Bertha

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Examples

  • The tour de force is a floor-to-ceiling explosion of color called Big Bertha, which is the first thing guests see as they enter the dining room.

    THE ARROWS COOKBOOK Clark Frasier 2003

  • This shell, which had soared twenty-four miles above the earth before descending, was the first of 367 projectiles fired at the French capital over the next four and a half months by a gun the Allies called Big Bertha and the Germans the Paris Gun.

    Castles of Steel Massie, Robert K., 1929- 2003

  • A circus fat woman known as Big Bertha attempted an homage to Menken by tugging on pink tights and strapping herself to the back of a donkey, but her act foundered when the struggling animal stumbled with his cargo into the orchestra pit.16 By the time of her death at thirty-three, Menken had influenced the nascent concept of celebrityhood in America and Europe, and in Mark Twain’s imagination.

    Mark Twain Ron Powers 2005

  • A circus fat woman known as Big Bertha attempted an homage to Menken by tugging on pink tights and strapping herself to the back of a donkey, but her act foundered when the struggling animal stumbled with his cargo into the orchestra pit.16 By the time of her death at thirty-three, Menken had influenced the nascent concept of celebrityhood in America and Europe, and in Mark Twain’s imagination.

    Mark Twain Ron Powers 2005

  • Jack called Big Bertha, who said she’d get in touch with Carla’s friends.

    Something Unpredictable Barbara Chepaitis 2003

  • Jack called Big Bertha, who said she’d get in touch with Carla’s friends.

    Something Unpredictable Barbara Chepaitis 2003

  • Jack called Big Bertha, who said she’d get in touch with Carla’s friends.

    Something Unpredictable Barbara Chepaitis 2003

  • "DHS" operatives, brazenly working in plain sight, have become celebrities and tourist attractions, such as Big Bertha at Seattle Airport. ribbitmobile

    Original Signal - Transmitting Web 2.0 2010

  • Then McCoy pounded three times on the '' Big Bertha '' bass drum before leaving the field.

    SI.com 2009

  • One night in early January, just before the 11:30 night shift whistle, Marion Allen was finishing up a clerical task on the Arizona side and contemplating an early dash across the canyon footbridge to beat the rush for a seat in a homebound Big Bertha.

    Colossus Michael Hiltzik 2010

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