hatchet man

hatchet man
noun
1. a professional killer
Syn: ↑iceman
Hypernyms: ↑murderer, ↑liquidator, ↑manslayer
2. one whose job it is to execute unpleasant tasks for a superior
Syn: ↑enforcer
Derivationally related forms: ↑enforce (for: ↑enforcer)
Hypernyms: ↑assistant, ↑helper, ↑help, ↑supporter

* * *

noun, pl ⋯ men [count]
: a person whose job is to do harsh and unpleasant things that other people do not want to do

She doesn't criticize her opponent's character directly. She has her hatchet men in the media do it for her.

He was fired by his boss's hatchet man.

* * *

ˈhatchet man [hatchet man hatchet men] noun (informal)
a person employed by an organization to make changes that are not popular with the other people who work there
 
Word Origin:
late 19th cent. (originally US): figuratively, from an early use denoting a hired Chinese assassin.

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • hatchet man — {n.}, {colloquial} 1. A politician or newspaper columnist whose job is to write and say unfavorable things about the opposition. * /Bill Lerner is the hatchet man for the Mayor s Party; he smears all the other candidates regularly./ 2. An… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • hatchet man — {n.}, {colloquial} 1. A politician or newspaper columnist whose job is to write and say unfavorable things about the opposition. * /Bill Lerner is the hatchet man for the Mayor s Party; he smears all the other candidates regularly./ 2. An… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • hatchet man — hat‧chet man [ˈhætʆt ˌmæn] noun hatchet men PLURALFORM [countable] informal HUMAN RESOURCES someone employed to make unpopular changes in an organization, especially ones which involve people losing their jobs * * * hatchet man UK US noun [C]… …   Financial and business terms

  • hatchet man — hatchet men N COUNT (disapproval) You can refer to someone who makes changes in an organization by getting rid of lots of people as a hatchet man, especially if you think they do so in an unnecessarily harsh way. [INFORMAL] They reckoned he was a …   English dictionary

  • hatchet man — n. 1. A person hired to murder or physically attack another; a hit man. [PJC] 2. A person who deliberately tries to ruin the reputation of another, often unscrupulously, by slander or other malicious communication, often with a political motive,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • hatchet man — hatchet .man n informal someone who is employed to make unpopular changes in an organization …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • hatchet man — hatchet ,man noun count INFORMAL 1. ) someone employed by a company to do a job that is not popular with other people, especially to get rid of members of the staff 2. ) a professional murderer …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • hatchet man — ► NOUN informal 1) a person employed to carry out controversial or disagreeable tasks. 2) a harsh critic …   English terms dictionary

  • hatchet man — ☆ hatchet man n. Informal 1. a person hired to commit murder 2. any person assigned by another to carry out disagreeable or unscrupulous tasks 3. a malicious or harsh writer or critic, as one who attempts to destroy a reputation …   English World dictionary

  • Hatchet man — A Hatchet man can be:Originally a pioneer or axeman serving in a US military unit.Oxford English Dictionary retrieved April 17 2008.] Towards the end of the nineteenth century the phrase was used to describe a Chinese assassin who carried a… …   Wikipedia

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