lord it over, to

lord it over someone

Fig. to dominate someone; to direct and control someone. Mr. Smith seems to lord it over his wife. The boss lords it over everyone in the office.See also: lord, over

lord it over

Domineer over, act arrogantly toward, as in After Mary was elected president, she tried to lord it over the other girls. [Late 1500s] Also see queen it. See also: lord, over

lord it over

To act in a domineering or superior manner toward: "She's lorded it over me all our adult lives because she went to college" (Jane Stevenson).See also: lord, over

lord it over, to

To behave arrogantly, assuming airs of authority and self-importance; to dominate. The noun lord was already present in Middle English about a.d. 900. It began to be used as a verb to denote domineering in the seventeenth century, and was being used more figuratively still by the early nineteenth century, when Wordsworth wrote, “You grey towers that still rise up as if to lord it over air” (Sonnets upon the Punishment of Death). His contemporary across the Atlantic, Washington Irving, wrote, “The Kaatskill Mountains are seen . . . lording it over the surrounding country” (Rip VanWinkle, 1820).See also: lord