Word.ws English Dictionary

bagman

bagman noun: a person who collects, transports, or distributes illicit money, especially for the purpose of bribery, extortion, or the making of other improper payments.

Noun

bagman (plural bagmen)

  1. (Australia, New Zealand, US, informal) A person who collects, transports, or distributes illicit money, especially for the purpose of bribery, extortion, or the making of other improper payments.
    • The accused are only the latest in a string of alleged bagmen, vote-riggers and ward-heelers charged with wrongdoing.2006 September 15, James Graff, “In France, a Vintage Chirac Scandal is Uncorked”, in Time
    • You're going to pick up seven million dollars of cartel money? […] Jimmy, you are an attorney, not a bagman.2020 April 6, Gordon Smith, “Bagman” (9:17 from the start), in Vince Gilligan, director, Better Call Saul, season 5, episode 8, spoken by Kim Wexler (Rhea Seahorn)
  2. A caddy.
  3. (UK, dated) A staff assistant to a senior police officer such as a detective sergeant for a detective inspector.
  4. (UK) A secretary of (and keeper of equipment for) a Morris dancing side.
  5. (Australia, slang) A bookmaker.
  6. (Australia, dated, slang) A tramp, hobo.
    Synonyms:
    vagrant, tramp, bum, hobo, swagman
  7. (UK, dated, slang) A travelling salesman.
  8. (US, slang) An officer assigned to travel with the president and carry the "nuclear football".
    • […] in a locked metal suitcase carried on the President's travels by a warrant officer irreverently known as "the bagman."1968, Newsweek, volume 72, numbers 10-18, page 28
    • The bagman clutching the nuclear football like an undertaker at a wedding. Cameras flashed and clicked, recording the scene. 'Good morning, Mr President,' they chorused.2013, Richard Doyle, Executive Action
  9. (Canada, informal) A prominent fundraiser for a political party or similar cause.
    • Proud to call himself the "bagman" of the Conservative Party, former senator Irving Gerstein boasted about the financial health of his party Friday.2016, David Akin, "Tory 'bagman' boasts about party's bank account, Toronto Sun, 28 May

Synonyms of bagman

All synonyms of bagman

Forms of bagman

pluralbagmen
alternative formbag man

Plural of bagman: bagmen

Origin of bagman

From bag + -man.

Questions about bagman

What does bagman mean?
Bagman means a person who collects, transports, or distributes illicit money, especially for the purpose of bribery, extortion, or the making of other improper payments.
What part of speech is bagman?
Bagman is a noun.
What is the plural of bagman?
The plural of bagman is bagmen.

Words near bagman in the dictionary

  1. bagloads
  2. baglos
  3. bagmaker
  4. bagmakers
  5. bagmaking
  6. bagman
  7. Bagmati
  8. bagmen
  9. bagmoth
  10. bagmoths
  11. bagna cauda

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: bagman (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: EN-AU ck1 bagman.ogg.

Cite this entry: “bagman.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bagman. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.