spear carrier

plural spear carriers · alternative spear-carrier · alternative spearcarrier

1. actingA person in a play or movie with a minimal part; an extra.

   [A]ctors would get annual raises through 2008, when even the lowliest spear carrier will make more than $1,500 a week for being on Broadway.

   2004 July 15, Jesse McKinley, “Close Call On Broadway Had Its Roots On the Road”, in New York Times, retrieved 19 Mar 2014

   Synonyms: bit player, walk-on

2. broadlyidiomaticOne who serves in a subordinate or menial role.

   Britain is now widely dismissed—more often in sorrow than in anger—as just an American spear-carrier without any real force of its own.

   2010 February 26, Adrian Hamilton, “Can we halt our slide to the margins?”, in The Independent, UK, retrieved 19 Mar 2014

   1 more example

   A case sitting quietly in the Supreme Court’s in-basket promises to tell us more than almost any other about John G. Roberts Jr. and his evolution from spear carrier in the Reagan revolution to chief justice of the United States.

   2009 January 8, Linda Greenhouse, “Opinion: The Chief Justice on the Spot”, in New York Times, retrieved 19 Mar 2014

   Synonyms: flunky, minion, underling

3. idiomaticOne who plays a leading or substantial role as a supporter, proponent, etc. representing a group, cause, or point of view.

   Reed was the preternaturally boyish spear carrier for the religious right, the brash Evangelical who transformed the Christian Coalition into a populist power center.

   2006 July 23, James Carney, “The Rise and Fall of Ralph Reed”, in Time, retrieved 19 Mar 2014

   1 more example

   Why would he do that? Because Hu Yaobang embodied the sense of historical mission in Chinese communism; spent his entire adult life honestly attempting to fulfil that mission; and was the spear carrier, after the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, for not only economic, but also political, judicial and cultural reform.

   2024 December 13, Paul Monk, “Add this to your must-read list”, in The Australian, retrieved 14 Dec 2024

   Synonyms: point man, standard-bearer, spearchucker