I. fat 1 S2 W3 /fæt/ BrE AmE adjective ( comparative fatter , superlative fattest )
[ Word Family: adjective : ↑ fat , ↑ fattening , ↑ fatty , ↑ fatted ; noun : ↑ fat , ↑ fatty ; verb : ↑ fatten ]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: fætt ]
1 . FLESH weighing too much because you have too much flesh on your body OPP thin :
Are you suggesting I’m too fat?
a short fat man in his early fifties
You’ll get fat if you eat all that chocolate.
He looks much fatter than in his photo.
2 . OBJECT thick or wide OPP thin :
Dobbs was smoking a fat cigar.
a big fat book
3 . MONEY [only before noun] informal containing or worth a large amount of money:
a fat cheque
Of course the supermarkets’ aim is to make fat profits.
4 . fat chance informal used to say that something is very unlikely to happen
fat chance of
‘You can go to bed now and sleep easy.’ ‘Fat chance of that!’
5 . (a) fat lot of good/use spoken not at all useful or helpful:
Fat lot of use you are in the kitchen.
6 . fat cat informal someone who has too much money, especially someone who is paid too much for their job – used in order to show disapproval:
the fat cats at the top who have recently been given obscene pay increases
7 . in fat city American English old-fashioned having plenty of money
8 . grow fat on something to become rich because of something – used to show disapproval:
The finance men had grown fat on managing other people’s money.
9 . a fat lip informal a lip that is swollen because it has been hit:
My friend was badly injured with bruised ribs and a fat lip.
10 . APPROVAL informal another spelling of ↑ phat – used to show approval, especially of someone or something that is fashionable, interesting, or attractive
fat/phat beats (=music that sounds good)
Check out these fat beats.
—fatness noun [uncountable] :
a rise in fatness in children
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ fat having too much flesh on your body. It is rude to tell someone that they are fat. It is also better not to use any of these words when talking directly to someone about their body:
She thinks she’s fat.
|
He looks the same, just a little fatter.
▪ overweight weighing more than you should:
Many medical conditions are caused by being overweight.
|
She was several kilos overweight.
▪ big/large used when saying that someone has a big body. Large is more common than big in written English:
My father was a big man.
|
two large ladies
▪ obese extremely fat in a way that is dangerous to your health:
He went to a summer camp for obese teenagers.
▪ chubby slightly fat in a nice-looking way – used especially about babies and children:
A chubby little baby was playing on the rug.
▪ plump a woman or child who is plump is slightly fat, especially in a pleasant way:
Her mother was a plump cheerful woman.
▪ flabby having soft loose skin that looks unattractive:
a flabby stomach
|
Her body was getting old and flabby.
▪ portly literary fat and round – used especially about fairly old men:
The bishop was a portly middle-aged gentleman.
II. fat 2 BrE AmE noun
[ Word Family: adjective : ↑ fat , ↑ fattening , ↑ fatty , ↑ fatted ; noun : ↑ fat , ↑ fatty ; verb : ↑ fatten ]
1 . [uncountable] a substance that is stored under the skin of people and animals, that helps to keep them warm:
Rolls of fat bulged over his collar.
I didn’t like the meat – there was too much fat on it.
2 . [uncountable and countable] an oily substance contained in certain foods:
Cream has a high fat content.
high/low in fat
This cheese is relatively low in fat.
You should think about reducing your fat intake (=the amount of fat you eat) .
high-fat/low-fat
a low-fat diet
⇨ ↑ saturated fat
3 . [uncountable and countable] an oily substance taken from animals or plants and used in cooking:
Place the chicken in the hot fat.
4 . the fat is in the fire used to say that there will be trouble because of something that has happened
5 . live off the fat of the land to get enough money to live comfortably without doing much work
6 . run to fat to start to become fat, especially because you are getting older or do not do much exercise
⇨ chew the fat at ↑ chew 1 (4), ⇨ ↑ puppy fat