Crossword clues for lackey
lackey
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Lackey \Lack"ey\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Lackeyed; p. pr. & vb. n. Lackeying.] To act or serve as lackey; to pay servile attendance.
Lackey \Lack"ey\, v. t. To attend as a lackey; to wait upon.
A thousand liveried angels lackey her.
--Milton.
Lackey \Lack"ey\, n.; pl. Lackeys. [F. laquais; cf. Sp. & Pg. lacayo; of uncertain origin; perh. of German origin, and akin to E. lick, v.] An attending male servant; a footman; a servile follower.
Like a Christian footboy or a gentleman's lackey.
--Shak.
Lackey caterpillar (Zo["o]l.), the caterpillar, or larva, of any bombycid moth of the genus Clisiocampa; -- so called from its party-colored markings. The common European species ( Clisiocampa neustria) is striped with blue, yellow, and red, with a white line on the back. The American species ( Clisiocampa Americana and Clisiocampa sylvatica) are commonly called tent caterpillars. See Tent caterpillar, under Tent.
Lackey moth (Zo["o]l.), the moth which produces the lackey caterpillar.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1520s, "footman, running footman, valet," from Middle French laquais "foot soldier, footman, servant" (15c.), of unknown origin; perhaps from Old Provençal lacai, from lecai "glutton, covetous," from lecar "to lick." Alternative etymology is via French from Catalan alacay, from Arabic al-qadi "the judge." Yet another guess traces it through Spanish lacayo, from Italian lacchè, from Modern Greek oulakes, from Turkish ulak "runner, courier." This suits the original sense better, but OED says Italian lacchè is from French. Sense of "servile follower" appeared 1580s. As a political term of abuse it dates from 1939 in communist jargon.
Wiktionary
n. 1 A footman, a livery male servant. 2 A fawn, servile follower; a lickspittle. vb. 1 (context transitive English) To attend, wait upon, serve obsequiously 2 (context intransitive obsolete English) To toady, play the flunky
WordNet
Wikipedia
A lackey or lacquey, in its original definition (attested 1529, according to the Oxford English Dictionary), is a uniformed manservant.
The modern connotation of "servile follower" appeared later, in 1588 (OED).
Lackey may refer to:
"Lackey" is a song by English indie rock band The Others and is featured on their debut album, The Others. Released on 17 January 2005, it was the third single from the album and charted at number 21 on the UK Singles Chart.
Usage examples of "lackey".
Dick drove her into the city in almost unbroken silence and left her at the great doors of the Grantham, abustle with a dozen lackeys in purple livery.
And in time he came to a great hedge and a gate with a little brick lodge, and when he rang the bell there hobbled to admit him no robed and annointed lackey of the palace, but a small stubby old man in a smock who spoke as best he could in the quaint tones of far Cornwall.
Enriquez, a lackey named Rubio, the two Aragonese - Mesa and Insausti - and another whose name was Bosque.
Perhaps it was not only the sight of Tilly standing levelling a gun at him that raised the fury in Bentwood but the fact that she seemed surrounded by all her lackeys, for besides the two flunkeys three outside men were standing by her now.
But lackey and lass, and page and groom, all denied stoutly that they had ever seen such a bag of money as my gudesire described.
He treated Kellie and Hutch as if they were lackeys and gofers, persons whose sole purpose was to make the world comfortable for people like himself.
I am one of those who think that the parts which kings and powerful nobles are called upon to act are infinitely of more worth than the parts of beggars or lackeys.
I found her, and took her from her lackeys and lickspittle suitors, and brought her here.
Crowds of lackeys flew through the rooms bearing silver plateaux filled with the richest viands, the most costly fruits, and the rarest wines.
By: Mercedes Lackey Synopsis: In Storm Rising, mysterious mage-storms are wreaking havoc on Valdemar, Karse, and all the Kingdoms of the West, plaguing these lands not only with disastrous earthquakes, monsoons, and ice storms, but also with venomous magical constructs-terrifying creatures out of nightmare.
Ibrahim tried to prevent your arrival here by sending winged afrits, and having his lackey Zapolya send conventional assassins, to intercept you.
A lackey who was at the door informed me that his lordship was still in bed.
They were bourgeois communities, peopled mainly by commuters-more capitalists and lackeys!
At Naples he had cheated the Chevalier de Morosini by persuading him to become his surety to the extent of six thousand ducats, and now he arrived in Florence in a handsome carriage, bringing his mistress with him, and having two tall lackeys and a valet in his service.
Far better and safer to send the seigneurs, their women and their smarmy lackeys packing.