bigfoot

See also: Bigfoot

English

Verb

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.
   • 2006 July 26, Ron Suskind, “FRONTLINE: News War Interviews”, in PBS.com, retrieved 27 May 2009:

     Later, Dick Cheney was Bigfooting around the West Wing, looking for heads.

Synonyms

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

Noun

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

• “bigfoot”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “bigfoot”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “bigfoot” in TheFreeDictionary.com, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2024.