800-pound gorillas

800-pound gorillas # An 800-pound gorilla is a person or entity so powerful that it dominates a situation without challenge.

The phrase alludes to the riddle "Where does an 800-pound gorilla sit?"—answer: anywhere it wants.

In business, technology, and politics, the term describes market leaders or forces too big to ignore: Google is the 800-pound gorilla of search engines.

Sometimes 500-pound or other weights appear, but 800 predominates.