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

Maclin had to earn his stripes; he started out as a stagehand.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 26, 2024

Aiding everyone is Lisa Kwak as The Mute, a sort of onstage stagehand and dogsbody who distributes props as needed, moves set pieces and generally keeps the show moving.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 1, 2024

Your mother was an opera singer and your father a stagehand.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 31, 2024

He still, however, has his mail sent to Ford’s, and his buggy is parked in a space behind the theater that was specially created for him by a carpenter and stagehand named Ned Spangler.

From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly