hired gun

noun

Informal.

1. a person hired to kill someone, as a gunfighter or professional killer.

2. a person hired to bear arms and fight for another, as a bodyguard or mercenary.

3. a person, as a politician or lobbyist, skilled at attaining power for others.

4. a person hired to resolve difficult problems or disputes or to handle complex legal or business problems.

Word History and Origins

Origin of hired gun¹

First recorded in 1965–70

Idioms and Phrases

A person, especially a professional killer, employed to kill someone, as in They thought the murder had been done by a hired gun . The noun gun has been slang for a professional criminal since the mid-1800s.

A person with special knowledge or expertise who is employed to resolve a complex problem. For example, The legal team was looking for a hired gun to handle the antitrust angle of the case . [ Slang ; 1960s]

Example Sentences

Federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged four reputed members of a Latino street gang with acting as hired guns in a dispute between two rival Armenian organized crime figures.

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All the while, musicians — some bandmates, others hired guns — filed in and out of four different studios, as he searched for perfection.

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It's not clear how much of the pro-Depp clamor was seeded by his hired guns, but in the end, they were pushing on an open door.

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You might save yourself from a life filled with small-talk with hired guns who were trained to speak to you in short sentences.

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ProPublica traced Zolgensma’s journey from lab to market, from the supporters there at the beginning to the hired guns brought in at the end to construct a rationale for its unprecedented price.

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