Big Bertha
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
A gun of large calibre used by the Germans to shell Paris from a range of 75 miles, during the 1914-18 War. It was so named by the French in allusion to Frau Bertha Krupp, of armament fame.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Big Bertha” mean?
A gun of large calibre used by the Germans to shell Paris from a range of 75 miles, during the 1914-18 War. It was so named by the French in allusion to Frau Bertha Krupp, of armament fame.
Is “Big Bertha” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.