wirepuller

See also: Wirepuller

English

Etymology

From wire +‎ puller, suggesting the operator of a puppet; compare pull strings.

Noun

wirepuller (plural wirepullers)

1. (informal, idiomatic) A person who exercises an influence on others that is felt but not seen.
   • 1908, Winston Churchill, Letter to his fianceé Clementine:

     'Filled with old doddering peers, cute financial magnates, clever wirepullers, big brewers with bulbous noses. All the enemies of progress are there — weaklings, sleek, slug, comfortable, self-important individuals.

   • 1919, Foreign Affairs: A Monthly Digest and Interpretation:

     […] there lies, alas, the tragedy of the millions of lives immolated by the ignorant peoples as the price paid for the deception practised upon them by the Imperialistic wirepullers.

2. Synonym of snake (“tool for pulling cables”)