John Henry
noun
a person's signature.
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John Henry
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Henry, John
Henry, JohnA hero of American folktales and folk songs. The stories portray him as a black man, enormously strong, who worked on railroads or on steamboats and died from exhaustion after he outperformed a steam drill in a contest.
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“John Henry”
“John Henry”An American folksong (see folk music) about the “steel-driving man” John Henry. It contains these lines:
John Henry said to his captain,
“A man ain't nothin' but a man,
And before I'd let your steam drill beat me down,
I'd die with the hammer in my hand, Lord, Lord!
I'd die with the hammer in my hand.”
John Henry
Americannoun
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John Henries
plural
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Informal. a person's signature.
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U.S. Folklore. a legendary Black man of exceptional strength and stamina.
Henry, John
1
Cultural
“John Henry”
2
Cultural
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of John Henry
An Americanism dating back to 1910–15; from the proper name
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He also thanks his long snapper, John Henry Mason, and holder, Levi Gonzaga.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
Iraola's first home Premier League game was watched by incoming Liverpool vice-chairman Amit Bhatia, principal owner John Henry, and sporting director Richard Hughes, who was integral in getting the deal for Isak done last summer.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
His cousin started taking him to Santa Anita, where he saw Spectacular Bid win the 1980 Strub Stakes in world record time for 1¼ miles and later followed such stars as John Henry.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2026
Her manic energy is offset by the two people to whom she is closest: her fragile 6-year-old cousin, John Henry, and Berenice, the family’s wise black housekeeper.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
Something waited in the trees, right at the spot John Henry and the others were rushing toward.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
Henry John Steiner, who is now the community’s official historian, was among those who pushed for the change.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
Heinz, the American company perhaps most associated with ketchup, didn’t get into the game until 1876, seven years after Henry John Heinz set up the company to sell horseradish using his mother’s recipe.
From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2018
Drue Heinz, 103, who used her riches from her third marriage — to Henry John Heinz II, the family behind the H.J.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 6, 2018
A trained civil engineer and architect, Henry John Ott provided instrumental input into its construction, son Walther Ott said in a letter about the church’s history.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 22, 2017
He told me many anecdotes of Patrick Henry, John Randolph, and other distinguished patriots.
From Campaigns of a Non-Combatant, and His Romaunt Abroad During the War by George Alfred Townsend
They would quickly break into a traditional folk song — perhaps “John Henry” or “Pretoria.”
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 27, 2023
Wright paints a singular version of the folk standard “John Henry” and gives his guitar a proper workout on Muddy Waters’ “Standing Around Crying.”
From Washington Times ● Oct. 30, 2016
“John Henry” touches upon several themes that C.C.R. went on to explore, foremost among them the nostalgia for some lost agrarian past.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 6, 2015
Marcus hears bluesman John Lee Hooker’s 1949 private recording of “John Henry” in Guitar Drag, along with Jimi Hendrix’s Woodstock rewiring of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” “the greatest and most unstable protest song there is.”
From Slate ● Sep. 10, 2014
These songs use sturdy diction and refer to very outdated ways of life; half the lyrics seem to be rewrites of imagined traditional songs, in the vein of “John Henry” or “Erie Canal.”
From New York Times ● Jun. 27, 2011
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
