spoilsman
Americannoun
plural
spoilsmen-
a person who seeks or receives a share in political spoils.
-
an advocate of the spoils system in politics.
noun
Etymology
Origin of spoilsman
1835–45, spoils ( def. ) + -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.
Up to the rostrum went a brief resolution from Tennessee's Kenneth McKellar, the premier spoilsman of the Senate.
From Time Magazine Archive
There, Tennessee's irascible spoilsman encountered another enemy�Paul Douglas of Illinois, who had tried his best, without success, to pry some of the pork out of the same $32.5 billion omnibus appropriation bill.
From Time Magazine Archive
But it was left for the Senate's master spoilsman, bulb-nosed Kenneth McKellar of Tennessee, to launch a bill that was even more alarming to large chunks of official Washington.
From Time Magazine Archive
The crusty old spoilsman swept aside the Narcotics Bureau report, quavering, "Papers, just papers."
From Time Magazine Archive
As a theoretical civil service reformer Mr. Lodge left nothing to be desired; as a practical spoilsman he had few equals.
From The Mirrors of Washington by Kirby, John
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
