Lion's Share

Lion's Share

"Lion's Share" is an expression that has come to mean the larger of two amounts, or more often, the largest of several amounts.

The saying derives from one of Aesop's fables, where the term is actually defined as the complete amount (all of it).

In the fable, a lion, fox, jackal and wolf go hunting, successfully killing a deer. It is divided into four parts with the lion taking the first quarter because he is king of the beasts, the second quarter because he is the arbiter of which animals get what portions of the deer, the third quarter because of his help in catching the deer, and the fourth quarter for his superior strength.

In some variants of the fable, the lion only takes three-quarters of the deer and lets the other animals fight over the remaining quarter.


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  • Lion's share — Lion Li on (l[imac] [u^]n), n. [F. lion, L. leo, onis, akin to Gr. le wn. Cf. {Chameleon}, {Dandelion}, {Leopard}.] 1. (Zo[ o]l.) A large carnivorous feline mammal ({Panthera leo}, formerly {Felis leo}), found in Southern Asia and in most parts… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • lion's share — The lion s share of something is the biggest or best part …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • lion's share — n. [from Aesop s fable in which the lion took all the spoils of a joint hunt] the whole thing or, now usually, the biggest and best portion …   English World dictionary

  • lion's share — index majority (greater part) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • lion's share — phrasal : the largest part the central government collects and spends the lion s share of the citizen s tax dollar Cabell Phillips slyly sneaked the lion s share of buttered toast at tea Jean Stafford * * * noun [noncount] : the largest part of… …   Useful english dictionary

  • lion's share —    The lion s share of something is the biggest or best part.   (Dorking School Dictionary)    ***    The lion s share of something is the largest portion, or the best part.     He left very little money to his children; the lion s share was… …   English Idioms & idiomatic expressions

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