1
general::
1. Free, unconfined, especially not confined in prison, as in To our distress, the housebreakers were still at large. [1300s] 2. At length, fully; also, as a whole, in general. For example, The chairman talked at large about the company's plans for the coming year, or, as Shakespeare wrote in Love's Labour's Lost (1:1): "So to the laws at large I write my name" (that is, I uphold the laws in general). This usage is somewhat less common. [1400s] 3. Elected to represent an entire group of voters rather than those in a particular district or other segment? for example, alderman at large, representing all the wards of a city instead of just one, or delegate at large to a labor union convention. [Mid-1700s]
American Heritage Idioms
2
general::
Phrase(s): at large
1. free; uncaptured. (Usually said of criminals not in custody.) • At noon, the day after the robbery, the thieves were still at large. • There is a murderer at large in the city! 2. in general; according to a general sample. • Truck drivers at large don’t like the new speed restriction on the highway. • Students at large felt that discipline was too strict. 3. representing the whole group rather than its subsections. (Always refers to a special kind of elective office.) • He ran for representative at large. • She represented shareholders at large on the governing board.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs