1
chiefly British
: traveling salesman
2
: a person who on behalf of another collects or distributes illicitly gained money
broadly
: an intermediary in an illicit or unethical transaction
Examples of bagman in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Manton deployed a network of fixers, bagmen, and front men who helped to identify sources of bribes, negotiate the terms, and conceal the proceeds inside a maze of opaque financial arrangements.
—
Time, 25 July 2023
Kathy Griffin’s uncle was a bagman.
—Los Angeles Times, 9 Aug. 2021
What about Selina’s bagman, Gary?
—Yvonne Villarreal Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 8 Nov. 2020
The episode is gritty (literally — it was shot in the late ’80s and shopped to another network) and follows the mugging and consequential death of a local councilman and erstwhile bagman.
—Lillian Brown, Vulture, 24 Feb. 2022
The bagman and Li’s brother-in-law pleaded guilty to drug trafficking offenses, while charges against the wife were dropped.
—Sebastian Rotella, ProPublica, 11 Oct. 2022
As part of an ensemble that pushed political satire to cynical and expletive extremes, Mr. Hale won both his Emmys for playing the bagman to Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s White House bumbler, Selina Meyer.
—John Jurgensen, WSJ, 29 June 2021
Asked outside court if Pietrzyk was a bagman in the scheme, his attorney, Robert Singer of Williamsville, New York, provided a nuanced answer.
—Eric D. Lawrence, Detroit Free Press, 22 Oct. 2019
Roberts served as Ike’s financial adviser and executor, and, after Roberts helped arrange his run for President, as his bagman.
—Nick Paumgarten, The New Yorker, 14 June 2019
See More
Time, 25 July 2023
Kathy Griffin’s uncle was a bagman.
—Los Angeles Times, 9 Aug. 2021
What about Selina’s bagman, Gary?
—Yvonne Villarreal Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 8 Nov. 2020
The episode is gritty (literally — it was shot in the late ’80s and shopped to another network) and follows the mugging and consequential death of a local councilman and erstwhile bagman.
—Lillian Brown, Vulture, 24 Feb. 2022
The bagman and Li’s brother-in-law pleaded guilty to drug trafficking offenses, while charges against the wife were dropped.
—Sebastian Rotella, ProPublica, 11 Oct. 2022
As part of an ensemble that pushed political satire to cynical and expletive extremes, Mr. Hale won both his Emmys for playing the bagman to Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s White House bumbler, Selina Meyer.
—John Jurgensen, WSJ, 29 June 2021
Asked outside court if Pietrzyk was a bagman in the scheme, his attorney, Robert Singer of Williamsville, New York, provided a nuanced answer.
—Eric D. Lawrence, Detroit Free Press, 22 Oct. 2019
Roberts served as Ike’s financial adviser and executor, and, after Roberts helped arrange his run for President, as his bagman.
—Nick Paumgarten, The New Yorker, 14 June 2019
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bagman.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1808, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Dictionary Entries Near bagman
Cite this Entry
“Bagman.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bagman. Accessed 22 Sep. 2023.
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