Meaning of old boy network | Babel Free

Definitions

A presumed unacknowledged system of association between childhood friends (especially those at school or university together), used for mutual assistance or favouritism.

idiomatic

Equivalents

Examples

“His hiring and promotion of senior officers rested not on merit but on an old-boy network of connections from Wall Street and the Social Register.”

“Another BWMT member said bars have no open advertising for bartenders and no affirmative action policy. He said bars hire "young, good looking white men" through an "old-boy network."”

CEFR level