bigfoot

present singular third person bigfoots · participle present bigfooting · participle past bigfooted · past bigfooted

1. capitalizedinformalsometimestransitiveTo 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

   2 more examples

   "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

   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

   Synonyms: push around

2. capitalizedinformalintransitivesometimesTo 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

   Synonyms: pull the strings, swagger

plural bigfeet

1. Alternative letter-case form of Bigfoot, a hairy hominid.

   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. informalA person with a big footprint; a prominent person, especially a journalist.

   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

   2 more examples

   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

   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

alternative Big Foot · alternative bigfoot

1. artsA very large, hairy, humanoid creature, similar to the yeti, said to live in the wilderness areas of the United States and Canada, especially the Pacific Northwest.

   The Bigfoot of spiders has been discovered in the caves of southwestern Oregon.

   2012 August 20, Sindya N. Bhanoo, “Cave Enthusiasts Find an 8-Legged Outlier”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 26 Jan 2021

   5 more examples

   This imprint was made either Wednesday night or early Thursday morning by "Big Foot".

   [1958 October 6, Andrew Genzoli, “Huge Foot Prints Hold Mystery Of Friendly Bluff Creek Giant”, in Humboldt Times, →OCLC, archived from the original on 11 Jun 2010

   Stories of “Bigfoot,” an eight-foot denizen of the forest in Northern California’s wild Trinity County, are among the main topics of conversation in that area. He is supposedly an Indian or half-breed who has reverted to an animal existence. A footprint believed to be his was measured by a Redding shoe store owner and found to be size 24!

   1961 July 1, “Big deal”, in Boot and Shoe Recorder, volume 160, number 3, Philadelphia, Pa.: Chilton Company, →OCLC, The Last Word, page 68, column 3

   Some Earth people believe Bigfoot lives in underground caves; others believe Bigfoot is connected with extraterrestrials; still others believe Bigfoot is a spirit that can sometimes manifest in form.

   1994, Sun Bear, Wabun Wind, Shawnodese, “A Dream Language of the Earth”, in Dreaming with the Wheel: How to Interpret and Work with your Dreams Using the Medicine Wheel, Fireside, →ISBN, page 145

   Then there are the sharp divisions of opinion about whether Bigfoot is a Gigantopithecus or a Neanderthal or some other hominid.

   2016, Bryan Sykes, “The Guru”, in Bigfoot, Yeti, and the Last Neanderthal: A Geneticist’s Search for Modern Apemen, Disinformation Books, →ISBN, part II, page 173

   Many enthusiasts believe that Bigfoot is not some sort of undiscovered hominid, but rather a mystical being that moves between dimensions.

   2019, Christopher D. Bader, Joseph O. Baker, “Bigfoot: Undiscovered Primate or Interdimensional Spirit?”, in Deviance Management: Insiders, Outsiders, Hiders, and Drifters, University of California Press, →ISBN, page 77

   Synonyms: Sasquatch, North American Wood Ape

plural Bigfeet · plural Bigfoots · alternative Big Foot · alternative bigfoot

1. artsAn individual creature of this type.

   My answer to those who believe that all Bigfoot are just huge cuddly Ewoks is to remind them that there is plenty of evidence that every member of the great apes family […] has exhibited hostility […].

   2007, Matthew Scott Hansen, The Shadowkiller: A Novel, page 434

   1 more example

   The striking news on the appearance of a Bigfoot on Taibai Mountain in Xi'an, Shaanxi Provnice^([sic – meaning Province]) recently spread among local residents of Mei County located near the foot of Taibai Mountain. Is Taibai Mountain really home to a Bigfoot? Who encountered the Bigfoot on Taibai Mountain? Reporters interviewed many residents of Mei County, and their accounts varied.

   2010 October 15, “Bigfoot sighted on Taibai Mountain”, in 叶欣, editor, People's Daily, archived from the original on 23 May 2015

present singular third person Bigfoots · participle present Bigfooting · participle past Bigfooted · past Bigfooted · alternative Big Foot · alternative bigfoot

1. Alternative letter-case form of bigfoot.