bagman

IPA/ˈbæɡ.mæn/
KK[bˈæɡmən]IPA/ˈbæɡ.mæn/

bagman — noun

  • bagmansingular
  • bagmansplural

1. a person who handles cash that came from criminal activity, picking it up from o

1.nounC1
Definition

a person who handles cash that came from criminal activity, picking it up from one party and passing it to another so that the person running the operation never has to touch the money directly.

Example

The police arrested the gang's bagman as he walked out of the casino with a duffel bag full of cash.

collocation: gang's bagman / mob's bagman

Baraka worked as a bagman for a construction company, delivering envelopes of cash to city officials.

pattern: work as a bagman for [organisation]

Common collocations
  • mob bagman
  • gang's bagman
  • act as bagman
  • bagman for (the cartel / the operation)
Synonyms
  • money courier

    more neutral and broader; a bagman is a specific type of illegal money courier for a criminal operation

  • go-between

    wider in scope — covers any intermediary, not just money; bagman is specifically about cash

  • intermediary

    formal; bagman is informal and criminal-specific

  • front man

    close synonym but front man can also refer to someone who hides a business's true ownership, not just money collection

Grammar Patterns

work as a bagman (for [someone])

act as a bagman

Usage Note

Almost always used in the context of organised crime, political corruption, or illegal gambling. The word carries a strong negative judgment and is never neutral.

Common Mistakes

He works as a bagman for a delivery company.
He works as a courier for a delivery company.
'bagman' only refers to illegal money handling, not legitimate delivery work.

2. a salesperson who travels from place to place to visit customers and sell goods,

2.nounC1
Definition

a salesperson who travels from place to place to visit customers and sell goods, especially in rural or remote areas where there are no shops — a term that was common in the early-to-mid 20th century before large retail chains expanded.

Example

Eli's grandfather was a bagman who drove a Model-T Ford across three states selling kitchen supplies.

register: dated — common in early-to-mid 20th C

In the 1940s, a good bagman could make a living visiting farms and small towns with a suitcase of samples.

pattern: a bagman + selling / visiting customers

Common collocations
  • work as a bagman
  • bagman for (a company)
  • old-time bagman
Synonyms

Grammar Patterns

work as a bagman

Usage Note

This sense is now old-fashioned. In modern English, 'traveling salesperson', 'sales rep', or 'field sales representative' are used instead. The word survives mainly in historical writing or nostalgic accounts of early 20th-century commerce.

Common Mistakes

Our new bagman just closed a big deal.
Our new sales rep just closed a big deal.
'bagman' sounds old-fashioned for a modern sales role.

Word family

  • bag
    nounA1
  • bag
    verbB1
  • bag lady
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four terms describe someone who operates between two parties, but 'bagman' is distinct in being both informal and criminal-specific. A 'go-between' is the broadest term — it can describe a diplomat, a matchmaker, or a criminal middleman. An 'intermediary' is formal and neutral, used in business, law, or diplomacy. A 'money courier' focuses on the physical transport of cash and can be legal or illegal. A 'front man' hides the true ownership or involvement of someone else but does not necessarily handle cash directly. 'Bagman' combines the secrecy of a front man with the cash-handling role of a courier, plus the strong implication of illegality. Example: 'The charity used a local priest as a go-between, but the real bagman was the accountant who delivered the bribes.'

go-betweenintermediary ↗money courierfront man ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • act as bagman
  • work as a bagman

Prepositions

Etymology

Englishbag + man

Formed by combining 'bag' (a soft container for carrying money or goods) with 'man'. The word originally referred to a traveling salesperson carrying a bag of samples (1800s), but in the 20th century developed a separate criminal meaning based on the image of someone carrying bags of illegally obtained cash.

First known use

1769

1769, in the meaning defined at sense 1