Great \Great\ (gr[=a]t), a. [Compar. Greater; superl.
   Greatest.] [OE. gret, great, AS. gre['a]t; akin to OS. &
   LG. gr[=o]t, D. groot, OHG. gr[=o]z, G. gross. Cf. Groat
   the coin.]
   1. Large in space; of much size; big; immense; enormous;
      expanded; -- opposed to small and little; as, a great
      house, ship, farm, plain, distance, length.
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   2. Large in number; numerous; as, a great company, multitude,
      series, etc.
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   3. Long continued; lengthened in duration; prolonged in time;
      as, a great while; a great interval.
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   4. Superior; admirable; commanding; -- applied to thoughts,
      actions, and feelings.
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   5. Endowed with extraordinary powers; uncommonly gifted; able
      to accomplish vast results; strong; powerful; mighty;
      noble; as, a great hero, scholar, genius, philosopher,
      etc.
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   6. Holding a chief position; elevated: lofty: eminent;
      distinguished; foremost; principal; as, great men; the
      great seal; the great marshal, etc.
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            He doth object I am too great of birth. --Shak.
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   7. Entitled to earnest consideration; weighty; important; as,
      a great argument, truth, or principle.
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   8. Pregnant; big (with young).
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            The ewes great with young.            --Ps. lxxviii.
                                                  71.
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   9. More than ordinary in degree; very considerable in degree;
      as, to use great caution; to be in great pain.
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            We have all
            Great cause to give great thanks.     --Shak.
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   10. (Genealogy) Older, younger, or more remote, by single
       generation; -- often used before grand to indicate one
       degree more remote in the direct line of descent; as,
       great-grandfather (a grandfather's or a grandmother's
       father), great-grandson, etc.
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   Great bear (Astron.), the constellation Ursa Major.

   Great cattle (Law), all manner of cattle except sheep and
      yearlings. --Wharton.

   Great charter (Eng. Hist.), Magna Charta.

   Great circle of a sphere, a circle the plane of which
      passes through the center of the sphere.

   Great circle sailing, the process or art of conducting a
      ship on a great circle of the globe or on the shortest arc
      between two places.

   Great go, the final examination for a degree at the
      University of Oxford, England; -- called also greats.
      --T. Hughes.

   Great guns. (Naut.) See under Gun.

   The Great Lakes the large fresh-water lakes (Lakes
      Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario) which lie on
      the northern borders of the United States.

   Great master. Same as Grand master, under Grand.

   Great organ (Mus.), the largest and loudest of the three
      parts of a grand organ (the others being the choir organ
      and the swell, and sometimes the pedal organ or foot
      keys), It is played upon by a separate keyboard, which has
      the middle position.

   The great powers (of Europe), in modern diplomacy, Great
      Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Russia, and Italy.

   Great primer. See under Type.

   Great scale (Mus.), the complete scale; -- employed to
      designate the entire series of musical sounds from lowest
      to highest.

   Great sea, the Mediterranean sea. In Chaucer both the Black
      and the Mediterranean seas are so called.

   Great seal.
       (a) The principal seal of a kingdom or state.
       (b) In Great Britain, the lord chancellor (who is
           custodian of this seal); also, his office.

   Great tithes. See under Tithes.

   The great, the eminent, distinguished, or powerful.

   The Great Spirit, among the North American Indians, their
      chief or principal deity.

   To be great (with one), to be intimate or familiar (with
      him). --Bacon.
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Organ \Or"gan\ ([^o]r"gan), n. [L. organum, Gr. 'o`rganon; akin
   to 'e`rgon work, and E. work: cf. F. organe. See Work, and
   cf. Orgue, Orgy.]
   1. An instrument or medium by which some important action is
      performed, or an important end accomplished; as,
      legislatures, courts, armies, taxgatherers, etc., are
      organs of government.
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   2. (Biol.) A natural part or structure in an animal or a
      plant, capable of performing some special action (termed
      its function), which is essential to the life or
      well-being of the whole; as, the heart, lungs, etc., are
      organs of animals; the root, stem, foliage, etc., are
      organs of plants.
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   Note: In animals the organs are generally made up of several
         tissues, one of which usually predominates, and
         determines the principal function of the organ. Groups
         of organs constitute a system. See System.
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   3. A component part performing an essential office in the
      working of any complex machine; as, the cylinder, valves,
      crank, etc., are organs of the steam engine.
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   4. A medium of communication between one person or body and
      another; as, the secretary of state is the organ of
      communication between the government and a foreign power;
      a newspaper is the organ of its editor, or of a party,
      sect, etc. A newsletter distributed within an organization
      is often called its house organ.
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   5. [Cf. AS. organ, fr. L. organum.] (Mus.) A wind instrument
      containing numerous pipes of various dimensions and kinds,
      which are filled with wind from a bellows, and played upon
      by means of keys similar to those of a piano, and
      sometimes by foot keys or pedals; -- formerly used in the
      plural, each pipe being considered an organ.
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            The deep, majestic, solemn organs blow. --Pope.
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   Note: Chaucer used the form orgon as a plural.
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               The merry orgon . . . that in the church goon
               [go].
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   Barrel organ, Choir organ, Great organ, etc. See under
      Barrel, Choir, etc.

   Cabinet organ (Mus.), an organ of small size, as for a
      chapel or for domestic use; a reed organ.

   Organ bird (Zool.), a Tasmanian crow shrike (Gymnorhina
      organicum). It utters discordant notes like those of a
      hand organ out of tune.

   Organ fish (Zool.), the drumfish.

   Organ gun. (Mil.) Same as Orgue
      (b) .

   Organ harmonium (Mus.), an harmonium of large capacity and
      power.

   Organ of Corti (Anat.), a complicated structure in the
      cochlea of the ear, including the auditory hair cells, the
      rods or fibers of Corti, the membrane of Corti, etc. See
      Note under Ear.

   Organ pipe. See Pipe, n., 1.

   Organ-pipe coral. (Zool.) See Tubipora.

   Organ point (Mus.), a passage in which the tonic or
      dominant is sustained continuously by one part, while the
      other parts move.
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