right-hand man
30
3.5
- noun
- /ˈraɪtˌhænd mæn/
:
mano derecha
- Because 10 former teammates, including his right-hand man, were lined up ready to testify.
I'll trade Rich Player, my right hand man, for Tony Yayo.
- I'll trade Rich Player, my right hand man, for Tony Yayo.
- He hadn't shaved and his right hand man was just standing out on the porch kind of standing guard.
- He creates a new position which hadn't existed before, a kind of day-to-day political manager, a right hand man.
- I, I knew his right hand man George, who's in The Last Dance.
- He made a lot of friends and contacts there, and many of them were Athenian, Theo Frostis, for example, who's kind of his right hand man.
- I had this other guy who was, was my right hand man, Awesome, awesome guy, awesome operator.
Examples
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And Gates has been Paul Manafort's right hand man for years.
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A meeting without your right-hand man?
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I want you to be my new floor manager, to be my right hand man and my left.
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His dad was my assistant or my right hand man, Frank Senior.
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I'm his right hand man.
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My dad used to be his right-hand man.
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Harry, this is my right-hand man.
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The first thing you should do is get your right-hand man or woman.
Blog text (20) -
You're supposed to be my right-hand man.
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Ellis, the Broncos president, has been team owner Pat Bowlen's right-hand man for years.
Synonyms
1
4.7
A woman who helps a leader closely and can be trusted
1
8.4
A loyal, reliable person who helps a leader with many tasks
A person who can be trusted to do important tasks carefully and well
How Important
Surface Forms
Morphology
right-hand + man
The expression uses a conventional metaphor — 'right-hand' as the primary or closest helper — so a learner who knows 'right', 'hand' and 'man' can often infer the sense 'trusted assistant'. However, the meaning depends on this established metaphorical use (rather than strictly compositional semantics) and may require some cultural exposure; cross-linguistic equivalents (e.g. Spanish 'mano derecha', French 'bras droit') make it more guessable but not fully transparent.
Etymology
Right-hand man comes from the image of a leader with a helper standing on their strong right side, using the main hand to help or defend them, so the man was close and trusted. That's why right-hand man now means 'a trusted assistant'.