throw one's weight around


Wield power or authority, especially in a heavy-handed way. For example, One doesn't make oneself popular by throwing one's weight around. [Colloquial; early 1900s]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.