big enchilada

big enchilada

noun
enchilada ( def 2 ).

Origin:
1970–75; on the pattern of such expressions as big cheese, big wheel, etc.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To big enchilada
Slang Dictionary

big enchilada definition

[...ɛntʃəˈlɑdə]
  1. n.
    the boss; the leader. (See also big cheese.) : The big enchilada has sent word that it's safe to return.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
00:10
Big enchilada is always a great word to know.
So is callithumpian. Does it mean:
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

big enchilada

see under big cheese.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT