Synonyms

lion's share

American

noun

the largest part or share, especially a disproportionate portion.

The eldest son received the lion's share of the estate.

lion's share Cultural

A disproportionately large segment of the whole: “Though we always divided our winnings, somehow Barton always seemed to end up with the lion's share.”

lion's share Idioms

The greater part or most of something, as in Whenever they won a doubles match, Ethel claimed the lion's share of the credit, or As usual, Uncle Bob took the lion's share of the cake. This expression alludes to Aesop's fable about a lion, who got all of a kill because its fellow hunters, an ass, fox, and wolf, were afraid to claim their share. [Late 1700s]

Etymology

Origin of lion's share

First recorded in 1780–90; probably after Aesop's fable in which the lion claimed all the spoils of a hunt

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The lion’s share, 13 million, was attributed to MiniMax, which says its model serves more than 212 million users and over 130,000 enterprise clients and developers.

From MarketWatch

San Francisco remained the center for high technology, with the lion’s share of venture capital investment to AI startups still flowing into the Bay Area.

From The Wall Street Journal

The CFTC, which until recently had the lion’s share of the regulatory authority over these assets, has become muted over the past 13 months.

From Barron's

Now, kid-friendly videos for language acquisition can be found on all corners of the internet with YouTube playing host to the lion’s share of the market, ranging from partially in Spanish to only in Spanish.

From Los Angeles Times

“We remain convinced Meta/EL will keep the lion’s share of the booming market given first mover advantage, customer-appealing brands and unique distribution capabilities” they say.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023