老大

老大

1. (literary) old (in age)
   • circa 744, 賀知章 [He Zhizhang], 回鄉偶書二首（其一）:

     少小離家老大回，鄉音無改鬢毛衰。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     少小离家老大回，乡音无改鬓毛衰。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     Shàoxiǎo líjiā lǎodà huí, xiāngyīn wú gǎi bìnmáo cuī. [Pinyin]

     A youngster when I left, and now grown old I return;
     still with my country dialect, but with hair thinning.^{[note 1]}

   • 816, 白居易 [Bai Juyi], 琵琶行:

     門前冷落車馬稀，老大嫁作商人婦。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     门前冷落车马稀，老大嫁作商人妇。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     Ménqián lěngluò chēmǎ xī, lǎodà jiàzuò shāngrén fù. [Pinyin]

     No more carriages and horsemen thronged her gate,
     And growing old she became a merchant's wife.^{[note 2]}

   • 1651, 吳偉業 [Wu Weiye], 圓圓曲:

     長向尊前悲老大，有人夫壻擅侯王。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     长向尊前悲老大，有人夫婿擅侯王。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     Cháng xiàng zūn qián bēi lǎodà, yǒurén fūxù shàn hóuwáng. [Pinyin]

     Before a cup of wine we grieved that old we've grown;
     We're glad she's married General Wu who wears a crown.^{[note 3]}

老大

1. eldest among the siblings
2. chief; boss; leader; ringleader

• (boss):

老大

1. (dialectal) chief crewman of a boat

老大

1. (colloquial, usually in the negative) very

老大

1. (Suzhounese) fellow; guy; chap