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legman

American  
[leg-man, -muhn] / ˈlɛgˌmæn, -mən /

noun

  • legmen
    plural
  1. a person employed to transact business outside an office, especially on behalf of one whose responsibilities require presence in the office.

  2. Journalism. a reporter who gathers information by visiting news sources or by being present at news events.


legman British  
/ ˈlɛɡmən /

noun

  1. a newsman who reports on news stories from the scene of action or original source

  2. a person employed to run errands, collect information, etc, outside an office

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of legman

1920–25. leg + man

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:

As a young legman, whose job was to file notes to senior reporters, Bernstein was at the White House when Kennedy’s coffin was returned in the early-morning hours after his assassination.

From Washington Post Jan. 14, 2022

Since I then covered the tournament for Newsweek and wrote a column elsewhere that appeared only monthly, I had the time to act as his legman.

From Golf Digest Mar. 23, 2020

Anderson’s first job in Washington was as a researcher — a legman, in the lingo — for the journalist Drew Pearson, the muckraking founder of “Washington Merry-Go-Round.”

From New York Times Sep. 28, 2010

Breitbart went to work for Drudge and served as his legman for 15 years, learning how to excavate news items from databases and wire-service feeds.

From Time Mar. 29, 2010

Alsop is an indefatigable legman, and he trudges an international beat.

From Time Magazine Archive

By the summer of 1973, the world was riveted by the Watergate hearings, and Anderson and his legmen were scrambling for stories.

From The New Yorker Nov. 24, 2014

For more than two years city editors dutifully filed away such tips as their legmen brought them.

From Time Magazine Archive

Recently the Republican National Committee sent Victor Johnston, one of its ablest legmen, on a scouting expedition to Seattle to look into the chances of unseating Magnuson this year.

From Time Magazine Archive

Soon he will have legmen in all of the empire's 13 states.

From Time Magazine Archive

Their work is anything but orthodox: cinema students actually help shoot Italian films; journalists work as legmen for Rome reporters.

From Time Magazine Archive

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