big kahuna

big kahuna

The most important or powerful person in a group, organization, business, or movement (e.g., the boss, leader, etc.). Primarily heard in US, South Africa. I think it sounds like a great idea, but you'll have to ask the big kahuna first.
See also: big, kahuna
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

a big kahuna

or

a grand kahuna

AMERICAN, INFORMAL
A big kahuna is a very important person in an organization. Suncorp Metway big kahuna Steve Jones may be thinking twice about his plans to start a business in North Queensland. Note: The word `kahuna' is from Hawaiian and means `wise man'.
See also: big, kahuna
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

big kahuna

n. the important person; the knowledgeable authority on some matter. (From the Hawai'ian word for “priest.” Sometimes capitalized.) Joe is the big kahuna around here when it comes to predicting stock market prices.
See also: big, kahuna
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • a big kahuna
  • big enchilada
  • grand poobah
  • a member for Barkshire
  • a plum in (one's) mouth
  • a plum in your mouth
  • double Dutch
  • be streets ahead
  • blues and twos
  • give up the ghost
References in periodicals archive
Featuring a 3.5-inch jaw opening, the Big Kahuna Power Blade makes easy work of cutting large diameter copper and aluminum electrical cables, resulting in clean, installation-ready cuts on high-voltage cables up to 1250 MCM in less than 20 seconds.
Know when to call in the big kahuna. "On the mainland, Hollister is one of my Paves." Her cute room decor?.
THE SCENE Front Range weekend sailors and paddlers mix with locals for tropical drinks and the Big Kahuna Burger.
The amount of money may have been small by Wall Street standards, but the implications were big in the high-pro file case because it resembles dozens of lawsuits against feeder funds that funneled money to the big kahuna of Ponzi schemes--Bernard Madoff.
Former and current resident playwrights, who are selected by submission for three-year renewable terms and receive development support such as public and private readings, include Rebecca Gilman ("Boy Gets Girl"), Lydia Diamond ("The Bluest Eye"), Roger Rueff (whose play "Hospitality Suite" became the film "The Big Kahuna"), and, of course, "A Steady Rain" scribe Keith Huff, who has been a resident playwright on and off for more than two decades.
Over the past nine months, the Big Kahuna, Dolce Vita, and Film Works have all expanded from Dubai into Cedar country.
Surfers from all over the West Coast were driving to Southern California for a chance to surf "the big kahuna."
The store hopes to tempt customers away from established local supermarkets with low-priced basics, including milk, eggs, and a 95p (EUR1.99) bottle of own-brand Big Kahuna Cabernet Shiraz.
TIE: Let's begin with the "big kahuna" of trade issues: farm support systems.
Or will he over-compensate, come back biting and kicking, keen to reassert his credentials as the Big Kahuna?
FIND THE BIG KAHUNA: BUILDING THE STRATEGIC ADVANTAGES THAT MATTER MOST
Marketers have also packaged several ingredients into a single formula and given their products such suggestive names as Big Kahuna Male Enhancer and Luscious Flower Libido Formula.
In fact, the Big Kahuna of the major-factory bunch, Remington's Ultra Mag, isn't even available in a 200, although when it's pushing a 180-grain Core Lokt Ultra out the muzzle at 3,250 fps and churning up more than 3,000 ft.-lbs.
On this day, I was going for the "big kahuna"--"OR SCs FOR 15 SECONDS.
In addition to overall sales, those gunning for the trip (and the moniker "Big Kahuna") were measured by closings, referrals to the company's in-house mortgage lender, capture rate, and customer service.