the big time

big time

1. adverb A lot; in a significant manner. You owe me big time for driving you to the airport at 4 AM! We're going to need to catch up big time if we want a chance to win.
2. noun A status or situation involving a lot of fame or success. Exclusively preceded by "the." Though she'd been acting for years, it was after her role in last summer's blockbuster that she finally hit the big time.
3. adjective Prominent or significant. Usually hyphenated. Though she'd been acting for years, it was her role in last summer's blockbuster that turned her into a big-time star.
See also: big, time
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

the big time

COMMON The big time means fame and success. After a series of small but critically admired roles, the actor has now moved into the big time. Note: When someone becomes famous and successful, you can say that they hit the big time. He opened his own salon in 1923 and hit the big time in 1935, when he designed the wedding dress for the Duchess of Gloucester. Note: You can use big-time to describe someone or something that is very successful, powerful, or important. You'll be a rich man — you have the brains to make a big-time criminal.
See also: big, time
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

big time, the

A high level of achievement or prominence in any area. This usage dates from the early 1900s. For example, “Barry’s band has reached the big time; it’s going to play in a New York club.” The term is also used adjectivally, as in “Being named to the board, that’s a big-time promotion.”
See also: big
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • big time
  • big time, the
  • big-time
  • big-D
  • Big D
  • do something in a big/small way
  • in a big way
  • make big
  • make it big
  • be (not) big on (something)
References in periodicals archive
'Shabu is poor man's cocaine so this proliferate in barangays...[The government's] first concern is to stop peddling and then go after the big time drug lords,' he added.
SC justice fears more deaths as gov't goes after street drug peddlers
It's a Long Story: My Life provides the definitive autobiography of Willie Nelson and incorporates more than a light dose of humor into a production that is "told as clear as a Texas sky and in the same rhythm that I lived it." Familiarity with and appreciation for Nelson's music is a prerequisite to fully appreciating this account of how he moved between Texas to the Pacific Northwest and around the country as he honed his music and moved from selling vacuum cleaners and encyclopedias to writing song after song in hopes of hitting the big time. How he hit that big time--and, more importantly, what he did with it--forms the foundation of a lively autobiography that recounts some of the biggest names in country music and his friendships and encounters with them.
It's a Long Story: My Life
"FORGOTTEN man" James DeGale is ready to launch himself back into the big time when he auditions for the right to ght the winner of Saturday's rematch between Carl Froch and George Groves.
DeGale back in spotlight; BOXING
The Big Time, a production from Made 4 Stage Theatre, offers a comedic insight of a job gone wrong when Jerry and Jacks make a complete mess of their latest mission.
TWISTS AND TURNS
The Portuguese striker bust a gut to get on the end of a Carlton Cole lay-off to settle the Championship play-off final and send Hammers into the big time.
That's ab fab! Vaz Te has stomach for Prem
IT'S been dubbed the pounds 90m match, with Premier League status the prize for Reading or Swansea at Wembley today, and bookmakers believe the battle for the big time could go down to the wire.
REACHING FOR THE SUMMIT
STEPHEN McManus aims to savour the big time atmosphere tonight - and then hopefully help bring the good times back to the Boro.
I want to see the good times back at Boro, says Mac
"If it hits the big time, who knows what I'll be able to buy."
McDONALD'S HAPPY REELS; Burger flipper gives pal pounds 6k to make movie
Up to 300 youngsters from the Blue Coat School, in Somerset Road, Edgbaston, will each dress in red for the Big Time Rhyme in aid of London's Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children.
Blue Coat is red for the day
"I thought I was entering the big time but failed to establish myself as a regular.
Football: Scott's goal is to blast back into the big time; JUNIORS WEST
Headlining are Coventry's The Enemy, who are shaping up to follow previous Riot tourers The Kaiser Chiefs into the big time. Also on the bill are rap/indie crossover Lethal Bizzle and scouse funsters The Wombats.
BOOK IT: THE ENEMY/LETHAL BIZZLE/THE WOMBATS
Thrasher fave and King of the Road legend Jeremy "Sherm" Rogers has officially entered the big time with a signature shoe on DVS.
Hot shoes
WHEN Ryan Valentine was dumped by Everton, he feared his chance of making the big time had gone.
Football: Valentine earns his day in the sun; INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY: WALES V BRAZIL Tonight, kick-off 7.45pm Former Blues youngster set to face Brazil tonight
And Cynthia Amsden hits the right comic note with Paul Gross and Steve Smith, as the two television icons take a shot at the big screen and the big time, Canadian style.
From the editor
It wasn't exactly the big time, he admits: "The prize for winning didn't even pan out.
Jazz baby: to 26-year-old Shawn Ryan, life is a cabaret, and he's coming to one near you