Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The most important or powerful person in an enterprise or field.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun idiomatic A
boss ,leader ,chieftain , or top-ranking person in anorganization .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[From Big Kahuna, nickname of the leader of a gang of surfers in the film Gidget (1959), from Hawaiian kahuna, priest, expert, from Proto-Polynesian *tufunga.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Borrowed from Hawaiian word kahuna (a shaman or wizard).
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Examples
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