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henchman love

henchman

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A loyal and trusted follower or subordinate.
  • noun A person who supports a political figure chiefly out of selfish interests.
  • noun A member of a criminal gang.
  • noun Obsolete A page to a prince or other person of high rank.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A groom; a footman; a male attendant; a follower.
  • noun Hence A mercenary adherent; a venal follower; one who holds himself at the bidding of another.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun An attendant; a servant; a follower. Now chiefly used as a political cant term.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A loyal and trusted follower or subordinate.
  • noun A person who supports a political figure chiefly out of selfish interests.
  • noun A member of a criminal gang.
  • noun obsolete A page to a prince or other person of high rank.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun someone who assists in a plot

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English hengsman, henshman, servant to a person of rank : hengest, horse (from Old English) + man, man; see man.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English hencheman, henseman, henxman ("a groom, page, attendant"), from Old English *hengstmann, *hengestmann (literally "horse-man"), from hengst, hengest ("stallion, horse, steed, gelding") (from Proto-Germanic *hangistaz (“stallion”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱanḱest-, *kankest- (“horse”)) + mann ("man"). Cognate with German Hengstmann ("a groom"), Icelandic hestamaður ("horseman, groom"). More at man.

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Examples

  • By the time he gets around to killing her, however, Ferguson has sent his own man -- so Victor kills him just as the henchman is about to shoot Rose, then hires himself out to Rose as a bodyguard.

    Marshall Fine: HuffPost Review: Wild Target Marshall Fine 2010

  • She took an ax to the father who'd shot her and whose albino henchman is on the lam and killing cops, and she's being prosecuted?

    'Hornet's Nest': The Girl With The Dragging Plot 2010

  • She took an ax to the father who'd shot her and whose albino henchman is on the lam and killing cops, and she's being prosecuted?

    'Hornet's Nest': The Girl With The Dragging Plot 2010

  • She took an ax to the father who'd shot her and whose albino henchman is on the lam and killing cops, and she's being prosecuted?

    'Hornet's Nest': The Girl With The Dragging Plot 2010

  • Hero empties his shotgun into the main henchman, then drops the shotgun to draw his six-shooter and pinks another gang member.

    3:10 TO YUMA Bill Crider 2007

  • His henchman is arrested after first raping, then throttling, the oversexed woman.

    Sex and Violence on the Bookstalls 1960

  • And nurtured gently, and thy henchman named, that is, gave him the right of sponging; if he had meant to allude to Patroclus as his son's friend, he would not have used the word henchman; for he was a free man.

    Works of Lucian of Samosata — Volume 03 of Samosata Lucian 1895

  • Swift, silent messengers hurried in and out, and Mr. Easterly, deciding the time was ripe, called his henchman to him.

    The Quest of the Silver Fleece A Novel 1915

  • Then they rode to the Hawn store, and old Jason called his henchman out and spoke like words that all the Hawns could hear.

    The Heart of the Hills John Fox 1891

  • Aaron called his henchman into the middle of the street and spoke vigorous words that all the Honeycutts could hear.

    The Heart of the Hills John Fox 1891

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