organ grinder
noun/ˈɔːɡən ˌɡɹaɪndə/UK/ˈɔɹɡən ˌɡɹaɪndəɹ/US
Etymology
From the repetitive grinding involved in playing a barrel organ. In figurative senses, from the common 19th-century practice of training monkeys to dance to an organ grinder's music in order to perform on the street and solicit donations and spare change.
Definitions
The player of a barrel organ.
- There is one beautiful sight in the East End, and only one, and it is the children dancing in the street when the organ-grinder goes his round.
- The organ-grinders were at work; but they were always precocious harbingers. It was near enough spring for them to go penny-hunting when the skating ball dropped at the park.
The person who is in charge, rather than a lackey or representative
The person who is in charge, rather than a lackey or representative; the person truly responsible for another's actions.
- I want to speak to the organ grinder, not the monkey.
The neighborhood
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for organ grinder. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA