bigfoot
bigfoot Lexical Profile
bigfoot Game Scores & Validity
• noun
North American A large, hairy, ape-like creature purported in North American folklore to inhabit the forests of the Pacific Northwest; a sasquatch.
"Hikers in the Cascade Mountains occasionally report finding oversized tracks that they attribute to a bigfoot."
American A prominent, high-ranking, or influential person in a particular field, especially a celebrity journalist or senior political correspondent.
"Whenever a major election approaches, the network sends in a bigfoot from Washington to anchor the local coverage."
• verb
American To pull rank or assert superior authority in order to take over a prestigious assignment or project from a lower-ranking colleague (especially in journalism or politics).
"The local reporter spent months cultivating sources, only to be bigfooted by a national correspondent when the story broke."
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in 1958 in California newspapers after giant humanoid footprints were discovered near a logging camp in Humboldt County; the journalistic verb sense emerged in the late 1970s.