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big enchilada

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noun Slang.
someone regarded as the most important, influential, or dominant person in an organization:The police are hoping to catch the syndicate's big enchilada in the next raid.
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Sometimes top enchilada .

Origin of big enchilada

First recorded in 1970–75; on the pattern of such expressions as big cheese, big wheel, etc.

Words nearby big enchilada

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use big enchilada in a sentence

Other Idioms and Phrases with big enchilada

big enchilada

see under big cheese.

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