stagehand

American  

[steyj-hand] / ˈsteɪdʒˌhænd /

noun

1. a person who moves properties, regulates lighting, etc., in a theatrical production.

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stagehand British  

/ ˈsteɪdʒˌhænd /

noun

1. a person who sets the stage, moves props, etc, in a theatrical production

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Etymology

Origin of stagehand

First recorded in 1900–05; stage + hand

Explanation

In the theater, a stagehand is someone who works behind the scenes, building sets, setting up lighting, and organizing props. Stagehands do hard, often physically demanding work to make a play, opera, or movie proceed smoothly. The earliest stagehands worked in the theater, using their hands to pull the heavy backstage rigging that lifts curtains and lighting and sets backdrops in place. Today's stagehands work on all kinds of productions, from circuses to film sets, doing special effects, video projections, carpentry, and more. If you love performance but you've got terrible stage fright, you might want to be a stagehand!

Example Sentences

Still others — and this may be your cousin — simply want to be near the action, hovering like an enthusiastic stagehand hoping for a cameo.

From Salon • Nov. 25, 2025

After his stint at Oxford, he worked as a television stagehand and literary agent before finding his life’s work.

From Seattle Times • May 11, 2024

Berlant initially appears in the disguise of a stagehand who chats to the audience about “Ms. Kate” while sweeping the stage.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 24, 2024

The men met years earlier at the American Negro Theater in New York, where Mr. Belafonte worked as a stagehand while studying theater.

From New York Times • Apr. 25, 2023

Truly, she did not know a person more incapable of reading a situation, more incapable of taking a hint, than this stagehand.

From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny