Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The quality or state of being gigantic; abnormally large size.
  • noun Excessive growth of the body or any of its parts, especially as a result of oversecretion of the growth hormone by the pituitary gland.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In biology, aberration from the normal standard by increase in size; monstrous stature.

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

  • noun The quality or state of being gigantic; being of abnormally large size.
  • noun A condition where there is over-production of growth hormone by the pituitary gland in a child before the bone growth plates close, resulting in excessive long bone growth, accompanied by muscular weakness and sexual impotence.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun excessive largeness of stature
  • noun excessive size; usually caused by excessive secretion of growth hormone from the pituitary gland

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin gigans ("giant") and -ism; equivalent to giant +‎ -ism.

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Examples

  • That would encourage financial gigantism, which is not good.

    Fixing Wall Street in Six Simple Steps | Impact Lab 2010

  • That would encourage financial gigantism, which is not good.

    6 simple steps to fix Wall Street 2010

  • That would encourage financial gigantism, which is not good.

    6 simple steps to fix Wall Street Allan Sloan with Doris Burke Fortune 2010

  • That would encourage financial gigantism, which is not good.

    6 simple steps to fix Wall Street 2010

  • Evolutionary features typical of island faunas and floras, such as gigantism, dwarfism, and unusual ecological, physiological, and behavioral adaptations are also found in a range of species.

    Sao Tome and Principe moist lowland forests 2008

  • Typical island adaptations, such as gigantism and dwarfism, occur in genera that are found elsewhere in Africa.

    Sao Tome and Principe moist lowland forests 2008

  • "freaked out," because she didn't recognize Tanya. acromegaly, also known as gigantism, caused by a tumor in her brain that is pushing on her pituitary gland, causing it to produce an excess of growth hormone.

    ABC News: Top Stories 2010

  • Dr Kuntner explained that the widely accepted theory was that evolutionary pressure was causing female "gigantism", with the females increasing in size in order to produce larger numbers of offspring.

    BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition 2009

  • Dr Kuntner explained that the widely accepted theory was that evolutionary pressure was causing female "gigantism", with the females increasing in size in order to produce larger numbers of offspring.

    British Blogs 2009

  • The XIT was the largest cattle ranch in the world, and its size likely appealed to that pursuer of gigantism, Seton-Karr.

    Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011

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    December 5, 2006