- big brother
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1. n. a personification of the totalitarian state. (From George Orwell’s 1984.)□ Big brother has changed the tax laws again.□ Now big brother has fixed it so you can’t even baby-sit without paying taxes.2. n. someone who personifies the totalitarian state: the police, parents, teachers.□ Old big brother grounded me for a week.□ Big brother says the paper is due tomorrow, or else.
Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions. 2015.