Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A loyal and trusted follower or subordinate.
- n. A person who supports a political figure chiefly out of selfish interests.
- n. A member of a criminal gang.
- n. Obsolete A page to a prince or other person of high rank.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A groom; a footman; a male attendant; a follower.
- n. Hence A mercenary adherent; a venal follower; one who holds himself at the bidding of another.
Wiktionary
- n. A loyal and trusted follower or subordinate.
- n. A person who supports a political figure chiefly out of selfish interests.
- n. A member of a criminal gang.
- n. obsolete A page to a prince or other person of high rank.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. An attendant; a servant; a follower. Now chiefly used as a political cant term.
WordNet 3.0
- n. someone who assists in a plot
Etymologies
- From Middle English hencheman, henseman, henxman ("a groom, page, attendant"), from Old English *hengstmann, *hengestmann (literally "horse-man"), from hengst, hengest ("stallion, horse, steed, gelding") (from Proto-Germanic *hangistaz (“stallion”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱanḱest-, *kankest- (“horse”)) + mann ("man"). Cognate with German Hengstmann ("a groom"), Icelandic hestamaður ("horseman, groom"). More at man. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English hengsman, henshman, servant to a person of rank : hengest, horse (from Old English) + man, man; see man. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“By the time he gets around to killing her, however, Ferguson has sent his own man -- so Victor kills him just as the henchman is about to shoot Rose, then hires himself out to Rose as a bodyguard.”
The Huffington Post: Marshall Fine: HuffPost Review: Wild Target
“She took an ax to the father who'd shot her and whose albino henchman is on the lam and killing cops, and she's being prosecuted?”
“Hero empties his shotgun into the main henchman, then drops the shotgun to draw his six-shooter and pinks another gang member.”
“His henchman is arrested after first raping, then throttling, the oversexed woman.”
“And nurtured gently, and thy henchman named, that is, gave him the right of sponging; if he had meant to allude to Patroclus as his son's friend, he would not have used the word henchman; for he was a free man.”
“Swift, silent messengers hurried in and out, and Mr. Easterly, deciding the time was ripe, called his henchman to him.”
“Then they rode to the Hawn store, and old Jason called his henchman out and spoke like words that all the Hawns could hear.”
“Aaron called his henchman into the middle of the street and spoke vigorous words that all the Honeycutts could hear.”
“And if the henchman is my hero, I am but a waiting-woman.”
“Hence, Haco; rouse the household; summon hither the handmaids; call henchman and ceorl to guard this foul raven.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘henchman’.
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Gene Wolfe
Please contribute your favorite words from any of Gene Wolfe’s books to this prize-winning list.
In case you come across words in this list which are too commonplace to fit in, please ...gallipot, roost, badelaire, oblesque, execration, dhole, amschaspand, arctother, chalcedony, penitence, asimi, autarch and 839 more...
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Mandles, Candles for Men
candles with a "manly" scent
a1 steak sauce, baseball glove, grillin' out, campfire, pigskin, bowling alley, musty locker room, chuck norris sweat, urinal deodorizer, bait shop, wet dog, hardware store and 210 more...
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POL - executive
Terms used for and by entities with executive power
forge a coalition..., head of state, head of government, public administra..., beef up the infor..., devolution, streamline state ..., back out of sg, break a pledge, excoriate, executive committee, implement the agr... and 99 more...
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Steampunk
Words used quite often in steampunk
ansible, airship, chymical, valve, clockwork, dirigible, thaumaturgy, copper, bronze, difference engine, gear, rivets and 523 more...
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Hence
Words with definitions that have a "hence" in them.
hanger, Deet, tripe, spindlelegs, fiddle, store, pluck, snap, villain, link, comedy, particular and 410 more...
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scoundrels and bastards
already several of these lists, but I wanted my own
varlet, scoundrel, slubberdegullion, bastard, hooligan, boor, churl, thug, cad, ne'er-do-well, miscreant, minx and 86 more...
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POL - cool compounds
scaremongering, facelifting, mudslinging, gerrymandering, goldplating, muscleflexing, headway, pinpointing, hobby-horse, barnstorming, grandfathering, finger-wagging and 31 more...
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What is a man?
Masculine archetypes and stereotypes, glorifications and vilifications.
This is in line with Femmesque, though narrower in its aim. I want simply the loaded nouns that denote a man's...cuckold, provider, rapist, messiah, hero, demon lover, animus, the man in the bu..., loser, mr. right, stud, bloke and 18 more...
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Cant terms
Words with the phrase "cant term" in their definitions.
placket, bogus, blackbird, henchman, becket, fly, whiggamore, caxon, panny, bid-stand, gull, palabras and 4 more...
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Man
Everything that contains a man in it
taxman, salesman, common man, spaceman, neolithic man, straw man, seaman, fireman, spiderman, overman, old man, con man and 373 more...
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Unsavoury Types
insults, epithets, etc.
drotchel, drossel, drazel, flutch, lollard, scobberlotcher, ragabash, faineant, cad, buffoon, martinet, tosspot and 116 more...
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The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
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newGRE
mostly from magoosh
imbue, verge on, nonchalant, deliberate, timorous, futile, provisional, dissect, checked, tinged, alluring, visionary and 1046 more...
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Vocab++
Words as I learn them.
fetid, mezzanine, hiatus, austerity, subliminal, resplendent, implacable, impugn, debase, exiguous, cirque, holster and 2538 more...
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Who Are You?
No one ever says, "I want to be a somnambulist when I grow up." But don't let that get in the way of organizing your Wordie lists.
chevalier, somnambulist, sommelier, troubadour, vicar, majordomo, caliph, polyglot, polymath, apprentice, nuyorican, privateer and 107 more...
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geekwad's Words
mysterium, elif, reckon, shadowy, ostensibly, unique, foodie, surreptitiously, asynchronous, insane, berserk, space pirate and 235 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for henchman.
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