BODYGUARD
NOUNS, PERSON
1330 ► WARDECORPS a bodyguard; an armed personal attendant → obs.
1730 ► HANCHMAN a trusty bodyguard or follower; a personal attendant or ‘right-hand man’ of a Highland chief → Sc. obs.
1909 ► HANDLER a bodyguard; a publicity agent; a person employed to advise or protect a politician, celebrity, etc. usually used in the plural → orig. US
1921 ► ANIMAL a bodyguard, a hired thug; an athletic or muscular man → Amer. sl.
1924 ► MINDER a bodyguard hired to protect a criminal → sl.
1928 ► HAMMER a bodyguard; a thug; a gangster → sl.
1930 ► TRIGGER MAN a hired bodyguard or thug; a gunman → sl., chiefly US
1933 ► HEAVY MAN an armed bodyguard or guard → US criminals’ sl.
1940 ► SIDEWINDER a gangster’s bodyguard → sl.
1988 ► HEAVIES bodyguards; people employed for their strength; bouncers, strong-arm men; men with authority employed to keep the peace, such as police, or to use violence if necessary, such as a criminal’s hench-men → Aust. sl. (Bk.)
1989 ► HACK a bodyguard → UK sl.
1992 ► BABYSISTER a bodyguard, often for a witness under police protection → police usage (Bk.)
1995 ► BACK a bodyguard → African-American sl.
2002 ► BABYSITTER a bodyguard, esp. of a witness, under police or federal protection → criminals’ sl. (Bk.)
2006 ► ENFORCER a bodyguard; a thug; a bully → US sl. (Bk.)
Lexicophilia 