Meaning of handlanger | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A low-ranking artillery soldier in the Austro-Hungarian Army.
   historical
2. An unskilled assistant to an artisan.
   South-Africa
3. An aide, an assistant.
   South-Africa, figuratively
4. Alternative letter-case form of Handlanger.
   alt-of

Equivalents

Examples

“[…] building himself brick by brick, with his wife as his only handlanger.”

“[E]very political leader has a handlanger. Like a toddler with a security blanket, the political handlanger is a necessary sop and sponge for all the tension that goes with the job. And there is nothing either disreputable or degrading about the role. Politics can be spiteful and demanding; the handlanger is the trusted confidant, the one person whom the leader can sound out, seek counsel from and trust.”

“The time for talk truly is over now. The ANC will have to do the necessary, find its backbone and rein in [Jacob] Zuma, his cronies and their handlangers to avert an economic crisis happening on its watch.”

“Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, by His Majeſty's Command, preſented to the Houſe, Copy of a Convention between the King of Great Britain and the States General, on the one Part; and the Empreſs Queen of Hungary and Bohemia on the other— […] Artillery. […] 12 Gunners, or Handlangers. […] 2 Drummers, at the Pay of Handlangers. […] 4 Aſſiſtants, at the Pay of Handlangers.”

“The Handlanger soldier was not a gunner or a bombardier, since he merely acted as labour on gun-sites […]”

“After the defeat of 1809, the four artillery regiments were kept in existence, but the Handlanger-Corps was reduced to a cadre.”

“The artillerymen concentrated on directing, loading and firing the guns, the remaining simpler functions being performed by the Handlanger. The No. 1 gunner inserted the charge and shot into the muzzle, No. 2 (a Handlanger) rammed it home and cleared the barrel with the sponge after firing. The chief gunner was No. 3, the Vormeister (gun commander) who was often a Bombardier, as were many Korporals. […] [H]e would also direct No. 5; the Handlanger holding the traversing spar and the Handlanger moving the gun.”

CEFR level