big top








noun

  1. the largest or main tent of a circus.
  2. a circus.

noun informal

  1. the main tent of a circus
  2. the circus itself
1

The main tent of a circus, as in The high-wire act is almost always in the big top. [c. 1840]

2

Underworld slang for a maximum-security prison, as in He was sentenced to ten years in the big top. [1950s]

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