body man
Americannoun
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a male personal assistant to a politician, who, in addition to handling daily schedule and travel logistics, serves as a constant companion and attends to the politician’s immediate personal needs.
Balancing an armful of papers, the body man ducked into a shop that sold the candidate’s preferred energy drink.
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a person who repairs and refinishes the bodies of cars, trucks, and other vehicles.
Etymology
Origin of body man
First recorded in 1915–20 body man for def. 2, and in 2000–05 body man for def. 1
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.
There was no staff member closer to the former president than Band, his so-called body man during Clinton's second term.
From BBC ● Feb. 26, 2026
County politics for a decade, including serving as a body man for Antonio Villaraigosa during his failed gubernatorial campaign, Flores moved to Huntington Park in 2018.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2025
One video shows the outcome of a friendly wager: “Told the body man that if I get a million views on the shop TikTok, I get to touch his beard and he said “sure.”
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 5, 2023
“Usually the body man would have brought them upstairs for Trump or someone from the outer-Oval at the end of the day. They would get handed off to the residence and just disappear.”
From Washington Post ● Aug. 27, 2022
When it is merely a question of keeping life in the body, man and beast alike prove that but little is required.
From Round the World by Carnegie, Andrew
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.