Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A jointed puppet manipulated from above by strings or wires attached to its limbs.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A puppet moved by strings; one of a set of such puppets used to represent characters on a mimic stage.
  • noun The buffie or buffle-headed duck.
  • noun A small complicated arrangement at the end of the batten in a ribbon-loom, for actuating the racks of the shuttles. It is curiously lifelike in its motions, whence the name.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A puppet moved by strings, as in a puppet show.
  • noun (Zoöl.) The buffel duck.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A string puppet, usually made of wood, which is animated by the pulling of strings.
  • noun zoology The buffel duck.
  • verb transitive To control (somebody) as if they were a puppet; to manipulate.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a small figure of a person operated from above with strings by a puppeteer

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French marionnette, from Old French, musical instrument, diminutive of mariole, the Virgin Mary (influenced by the name Marion), from diminutive of Marie, Mary, from Late Latin Maria; see Mary.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

French marionnette. One of the first figures to be made into a marionette was the Virgin Mary, hence the name.

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Examples

  • The boy who would be king took on a number of iconic roles in his early days; in 1994, he voiced Simba in "The Lion King," and in the two subsequent years, he played Tom Sawyer in "Tom and Huck," and the title marionette/boy in "Pinnochio."

    Jonathan Taylor Thomas' Birthday: Star Turns 30 Years Old (PHOTOS) 2011

  • You trolls are useless; except for when your being held like a marionette from the Corporations and special interests using your ignorant ambition against you, you neo-Con (artist) moron.

    Think Progress » ThinkFast: February 16, 2010 2010

  • And that horrible haircut and fat, round face made him look like the Chucky marionette from the horror movie of the same name.

    'Project Runway Talk': Nicolas attends EW's Rufflepalooza, says his 'cheap' Ice Queen shouldn't have won | EW.com 2009

  • Bringing home with him the interest he developed for puppet theater in China, Ruizendaal returned in 1991 to the Netherlands where he entered the doctoral program at Leiden University and specialized in Chinese marionette theater.

    Taipei Times 2008

  • Those frown lines you see every morning, getting deeper, running from each corner of your mouth down to the edge of your chin, those are called marionette lines.

    Diary Palahniuk, Chuck 2003

  • From time to time a hare would run between Pinocchio's feet, and after a few bounds would turn sharply around to stare at him with curious eyes, as much as to say that a marionette was a comical sight.

    Pinocchio in Africa E. Cherubini 1921

  • Itcertainly isan exaggeration on my part thatHitler actually was a 'marionette', but heactually did have some dealings with Zionists as to his handling of Jews.

    Gaza and Tijuana; What if Rocket Bombs Were Launched from Mexico Into California 2008

  • WASHINGTON - Billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife, formerly No. 1 on Bill Clinton's enemies list as the so-called "marionette" of the "vast right-wing conspiracy," met with the former president for two hours this week, offering to help him with his global initiative.

    Latest Articles 2008

  • First thing that comes to mind Can a "marionette" puppet ever have a relationship with no strings attached?

    Answerbag: Latest Questions in Question Categories 2008

  • "marionette" of Zionist lobby as easily as it would be possible.

    Mideast Youth - Thinking Ahead 2009

Comments

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  • See how I was baffled over on Sarg.

    March 14, 2016

  • Actually, I think being puzzled by a puzzle counts as being buffled.

    March 14, 2016