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stooge

[stooj]
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noun
  1. an entertainer who feeds lines to the main comedian and usually serves as the butt of his or her jokes.
  2. any underling, assistant, or accomplice.
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verb (used without object), stooged, stoog·ing.
  1. to act as a stooge.
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Origin of stooge

An Americanism dating back to 1910–15; origin uncertain
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for stooge

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • They tried to tell people what Venus was like, and what lies Carlson and his stooge Jaimison were using for bait.

  • The papers said that the steel necktie worn by my stooge at the theatre had to be cut off by a water-cooled electric saw.

    The Double Spy

    Dan T. Moore

  • If I'm half as good a stooge as I think I am, we'll be needing overcoats before we get back.

  • If the contest was a part of the day's program, no spectator seemed willing to play "stooge" in this preliminary performance.

    David Lannarck, Midget

    George S. Harney

  • And see how he managed to slide in that bit about corruption, right before his stooge handed him that bulletin?

    Null-ABC

    Henry Beam Piper and John Joseph McGuire

British Dictionary definitions for stooge

stooge

noun
  1. an actor who feeds lines to a comedian or acts as his foil or butt
  2. slang someone who is taken advantage of by another
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verb (intr)
  1. slang to act as a stooge
  2. (foll by about or around) slang (esp in the RAF) to fly or move about aimlessly
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Word Origin

C20: of unknown origin
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

Word Origin and History for stooge

n.

1913, "stage assistant," of uncertain origin, perhaps an alteration of student (with the mispronunciation STOO-jent), in sense of "apprentice." Meaning "lackey, person used for another's purpose" first recorded 1937, perhaps influenced by the Three Stooges film comedy act, which had been appearing in movies since 1930, starting as "Ted Healy and His Stooges."

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper