Dictionary

bigfoot en · NOUN

Meanings

1. (alt-of) Alternative letter-case form of Bigfoot, a hairy hominid.
   alt of Bigfoot
   • 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. 2011 November, Helena Nash, "No. 179—Wussy Wookie", The Drink Tank, No. 300, p. 180
2. (informal) A person with a big footprint; a prominent person, especially a journalist.
   • 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. 2004 February 12, Eric Alterman, “Al, We Hardly Know Ye”, in The Nation, volume 278, published 1 March 2004, page 12:
   • And he's living a pundit’s dream by being frequently cited—not just by fellow bloggers, but by media bigfeet. 2002 May 19, Steven Levy, “Will The Blogs Kill Old Media?”, in Newsweek, volume 139:
   • 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. 2003 December 15, William Safire, “From the ‘Spider Hole’”, in The New York Times, section A, page 27:

Forms

bigfoot en · VERB

Meanings

1. (capitalized, informal, sometimes, transitive) To control or manage forcefully; to exercise authority over.
   • Most recently, Allen bigfooted Walter out of the way to explore a merger with SBC Communications, Inc., the largest of the regional Bells. 1997 July 28, Jill Smolowe et al., “AT&T Unplugs a CEO-To-Be”, in Time:
   • 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. 2008 February 26, Howard Kurtz, “Wardrobe Wars”, in Washington Post, 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. 2002 August 7, Joanne Wasserman, Alison Gendar, “School Chief Seeks No. 2”, in New York Daily News, retrieved 27 May 2009:
2. (capitalized, informal, intransitive, sometimes) To behave in an authoritative, commanding manner.
   • Later, Dick Cheney was Bigfooting around the West Wing, looking for heads. 2006 July 26, Ron Suskind, “FRONTLINE: News War Interviews”, in PBS.com, retrieved 27 May 2009:

Forms

Synonyms

pull the strings (behave in an authoritative manner) · push around (control or manage forcefully) · swagger (behave in an authoritative manner)