wirepulling
Americannoun
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an act of pulling wires.
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the use of influence to manipulate persons or organizations, as political organizations, for one's own ends.
Etymology
Origin of wirepulling
First recorded in 1825–35; wire + pull ( def. ) + -ing 1 ( def. )
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 ensued seven days of picturesque wrangling and wirepulling, which the French press characterized almost unanimously as "scandalous."
From Time Magazine Archive
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Equally out of date is the fervent wirepulling that once plagued Ivy admissions men.
From Time Magazine Archive
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Bonsal came to his rescue, and so became acquainted with wirepulling, involved, ambiguous Colonel Edward House, of Texas, the Harry Hopkins of the Wilson regime.
From Time Magazine Archive
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Then he shook hands with me, and sed I was smarter 'an chane litenin', and I'd get to be Preserdent sum day, cos I beet all the pollytishuns he ever know'd at wirepulling.
From The Bad Boy At Home And His Experiences In Trying To Become An Editor - 1885 by Metta Victoria Fuller Victor
The idea of ecclesiastical wirepulling was repugnant to his nature.
From The Brentons by Wilson C. Dexter
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.