bagman

American  

[bag-man, bag-muhn] / ˈbægˌmæn, ˈbæg mən /

noun

plural

bagmen

1. dishonest official; a person who collects, carries, or distributes illegal payoff money.

2. British. a traveling salesman; drummer.

3. Australian. a tramp; swagman.

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bagman British  

/ ˈbæɡmən /

noun

1. informal a travelling salesman

2. slang a person who collects or distributes money for racketeers

3. informal a person who solicits money or subscriptions for a political party

4. history a tramp or swagman, esp one on horseback

5. Also called: bagswinger.  slang someone who takes money for a bookmaker

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Etymology

Origin of bagman

1525–35, for an earlier literally sense; bag + man

Example Sentences

His experience demonstrates that far from ridding sports of backroom deals and bagman boosters, the deluge of legal NIL money incentivizes and gives cover to the illicit market.

From The Wall Street Journal

And never has there been a more appropriate bagman to assist the biggest win of a career to date.

From BBC

Their first mission, which is to track a bagman with a suitcase in the Madrid airport is a nifty sequence, which gets the film off to a good start.

From Salon

Then Lalo decided that Jimmy’s version of his bagman travails — that he simply had car trouble and then walked all night — had holes in it.

From New York Times

The bagman had driven to the handoff in his own car; all the agents had to do was look up the license plate number.

From New York Times

Related Words

• dealer
• drug trafficker