ˈhatchet-man
[f. hatchet n. + man n.1]
† 1. A pioneer or axeman serving in a military unit. U.S. Obs.
| 1755 G. Washington Lett. Writ. 1889 I. 299 note, to detain both mulattoes and negroes..and employ them as Pioneers or Hatchetmen. |
2. In the U.S., a hired Chinese assassin. Also transf.
| 1880 G. B. Densmore Chinese in California xii. 94 Some of them are called hatchet-men. They carry a hatchet with the handle cut off. 1888 Boston Jrnl. 3 May 1/2 The work of the hatchetmen among the enemies of the organization. 1913 J. London Valley of Moon iii. xx, Chan Chi, had been a hatchet-man of note, in the old fighting days of the San Francisco tongs. 1957 P. Frank Seven Days to Never iii. iii. 90 He was a hatchet man for the NKVD... He may have delivered Beria over to Malenkov and Krushchev. |
3. (Now the usual sense.) A person, especially a journalist, employed to attack and destroy other people's reputations. So hatchet job, hatchet work. orig. U.S.
| 1944 Time 23 Oct. 20 Exuberant hatchet jobs were..done on Foster Dulles because of his Wall Street connections. 1952 Manch. Guardian Weekly 3 Apr. 15/4 Republican hatchet-men. 1959 Encounter July 83/1 One has no difficulty in recognising the familiar tones of Dr. Leavis' hatchet-men when he is attacked. 1959 Guardian 13 Oct. 7/4 One critic..was the meanest son of a bitch that ever lived. His criticism was a hatchet job on every book. 1960 News Chron. 14 July 1/5 The Kennedy family went into action with a commando team of political hatchet-men. 1961 M. McCarthy On Contrary (1962) i. 87 The literary Communists..doing the hatchet work on artists' reputations. 1962 Listener 21 June 1089/1 It was difficult enough to sympathise with the hero once we'd seen him doing his hatchet work. |