bigfoot

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See also: Bigfoot

English

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Verb

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bigfoot (third-person singular simple present bigfoots, present participle bigfooting, simple past and past participle bigfooted)

  1. (transitive, informal, sometimes capitalized) To control or manage forcefully; to exercise authority over.
    • 1997 July 28, Jill Smolowe et al., “AT&T Unplugs a CEO-To-Be”, in Time:
      Most recently, Allen bigfooted Walter out of the way to explore a merger with SBC Communications, Inc., the largest of the regional Bells.
    • 2002 August 7, Joanne Wasserman, Alison Gendar, “School Chief Seeks No. 2”, in New York Daily News, retrieved 27 May 2009:
      "Joel is out to get the best and brightest. It is his team to build," Walcott said, his comments appearing to reject speculation that Bloomberg was bigfooting the deputy search.
    • 2008 February 26, Howard Kurtz, “Wardrobe Wars”, in Washington Post, retrieved 27 May 2009:
      Clinton is a terrible manager of people. . . . Her White House, if we can glean anything from the campaign, would be a secretive nest of well-fed yes-people, an uncontrollable egomaniac spouse able and willing to bigfoot anyone if he wants to . . . and a drizzle of dreary hacks.
  2. (intransitive, informal, sometimes capitalized) To behave in an authoritative, commanding manner.

Synonyms

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Noun

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bigfoot (plural bigfeet)

  1. Alternative letter-case form of Bigfoot, a hairy hominid.
    • 2011 November, Helena Nash, "No. 179—Wussy Wookie", The Drink Tank, No. 300, p. 180:
      I mean, for the love of the Force, he's a bigfoot with a gun; how come he's not the baddest badass in the Empire? Instead we get a walking carpet who sucks at board games and has a fetish for restraints.
  2. (informal) A person with a big footprint; a prominent person, especially a journalist.
    • 2002 May 19, Steven Levy, “Will The Blogs Kill Old Media?”, in Newsweek, volume 139:
      And he's living a pundit’s dream by being frequently cited—not just by fellow bloggers, but by media bigfeet.
    • 2003 December 15, William Safire, “From the ‘Spider Hole’”, in The New York Times, section A, page 27:
      Along with other media bigfeet, I chatted up Rummy and C.I.A. chief George Tenet, both of whom were in on the secret of the capture of Saddam a few hours before.
    • 2004 February 12, Eric Alterman, “Al, We Hardly Know Ye”, in The Nation, volume 278, published 1 March 2004, page 12:
      His combination of brains and bravery–even in the face of his grave miscalculation regarding Dean–when viewed against the smug, shallow self-satisfaction of the media bigfeet who mock him, redounds enormously to Gore’s benefit.

References

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