Meanings
plural bagmen · alternative bag man
- AustraliaNew ZealandUSinformalA person who collects, transports, or distributes illicit money, especially for the purpose of bribery, extortion, or the making of other improper payments.
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)1 more example
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 - golfA caddy.
- UKdatedA staff assistant to a senior police officer such as a detective sergeant for a detective inspector.
- UKA secretary of (and keeper of equipment for) a Morris dancing side.
- AustraliaslangA bookmaker.
- UKdatedslangA travelling salesman.
- USslanggovernmentAn 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 281 more example
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 - CanadainformalgovernmentA prominent fundraiser for a political party or similar cause.
2016, David Akin, "Tory 'bagman' boasts about party's bank account, Toronto Sun, 28 May, Proud to call himself the "bagman" of the Conservative Party, former senator Irving Gerstein boasted about the financial health of his party Friday.
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
nouna salesman who travels to call on customers
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Norsebaggibor.?
- Old Frenchbaguebor.?
- Middle Englishbagge
- Englishbag
- Proto-Indo-European*mon-
- Proto-Germanic*mann-
- Proto-West Germanic*mann
- Old Englishmann
- Middle Englishman
- Englishbagman
Cite this entry
bagman. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bagman
“bagman.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bagman. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bagman,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bagman.
Source: bagman on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.