henchman
noun
hench·man
| \ ˈhench-mən
\
\
plural henchmen
Definition of henchman
1a
: a trusted follower : a right-hand man
b
: a political follower whose support is chiefly for personal advantage
c
: a member of a gang
2
obsolete
: a squire or page to a person of high rank
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Examples of henchman in a Sentence
a gangster surrounded by his henchmen
Recent Examples on the Web
Two detectives battle a Hong Kong gangster and his henchmen after a bombing at the U.S. Embassy. — Los Angeles Times, "Movies on TV this week Sept. 1 - 7, 2019: John Wayne in ‘The Searchers’ and more," 30 Aug. 2019 The photo features Emma Stone sporting Cruella de Vil's signature two-toned hair and holding the leashes of three Dalmatians while flanked by two of her henchmen. — Kayleigh Roberts, Marie Claire, "Disney Reveals the First Picture of Emma Stone as Cruella de Vil," 25 Aug. 2019 Rather than process a deed transfer and sell to a flipper, Sloan gives up on the money and heads out, telling his henchman to kill Nick, who's promptly shot in the back. — Scott Craven, azcentral, "Movie review: Frank Grillo action yarn 'Into the Ashes' burns slowly and fizzles out early," 15 July 2019 His flamboyant uniforms, his nepotistic promotion of his sons and backing from the former regime’s henchmen stir fears of a second Qaddafi. — The Economist, "A warlord’s offensive against Tripoli is flagging," 4 July 2019 And even more: that the final break came when the supposedly responsible one engineered an elaborate conspiracy to frame his brother involving a henchman and two corrupt cops. — Longreads, "The Top 5 Longreads of the Week," 27 June 2019 Gabby Gabby is guarded by henchmen: ventriloquist’s dummies whose lurching gait suggests that, in a far-off act of vengeance, a gangster doll broke their legs. — Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, "“Toy Story 4” Plays It Again," 21 June 2019 Ever since his call up, McIntyre has been a monster henchman, crushing the competition for Dolph Ziggler and, now, Shane McMahon. — Joe Nguyen, The Denver Post, "Stomping Grounds: Predictions, breakdowns of the WWE matches at Tacoma Dome," 16 June 2019 Get our daily newsletter Tireless as Mr Modi, Mr Shah has for decades been a close henchman and enforcer. — The Economist, "What will Narendra Modi do in his new term as India’s prime minister?," 14 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'henchman.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for henchman
henchman
noun
English Language Learners Definition of henchman
disapproving
: a trusted follower or supporter who performs unpleasant, wrong, or illegal tasks for a powerful person (such as a politician or criminal)
See the full definition for henchman in the English Language Learners Dictionary
henchman
noun
hench·man
| \ ˈhench-mən
\
\
plural henchmen\ -mən \
Kids Definition of henchman
: a trusted follower or supporter and especially someone who performs unpleasant or illegal tasks
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