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king's man. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
king's man, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
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English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From king + -'s and man.
Noun
king's man (plural king's men)
- A Loyalist during the American Revolution, or any supporter of the king.
1894, Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine, National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, page 424:The owner of the grist mill, Smith Bowen, was a patriot, but his father was thought to have Tory tendencies, and when they came to burn the mill he ran out waving his hands and crying, "Spare the mill for I am a King's man."
1972, James Henry Stark, The Loyalists of Massachusetts And the Other Side of the American Revolution:Moreover, his willingness to lodge British soldiers, and a free hospitality shown to British officers (among others who frequented his house was General Mackay, a relative, probably, of his wife) marked Mr. Murray as a King's man.
2014, Frances H. Kennedy, The American Revolution: A Historical Guidebook, Oxford University Press, page 37:The Virginia House of Burgesses condemned the acts even before they took effect, prompting Governor Dunmore, a loyal king's man, to order it dissolved.
- A customs officer, or other officer appointed by the English Crown.
1990, Sarah Gibbings, “The Tie: Trends and Traditions”, in Barron's, page 84:[...] "king's man" was a customs officer.
1997, Donald R. Kelley, David Harris Sacks, The Historical Imagination in Early Modern Britain: History, Rhetoric, and Fiction, 1500-1800, Cambridge University Press, page 152:Either North or Cheney [...] must have secured Arden's appointment to the lucrative post of king's customs officer for the port of Faversham [...] From the first, Arden was, in the words of Lena Orlin, who has described these relations in compelling detail, "a king's man in Faversham."
2016, Dawn G. Robinson, Secret Bude, Amberley Publishing Limited:It is said that the King's man, John Silver (you couldn't make this up), caught Symonds red-handed one day and had his head cut off with a cutlass. [...] the coast was less closely monitored by the customs officers than the secluded coves of the south; anyway, the customs men were often in cahoots with the smugglers and wreckers. Despite this, there were few run-ins between smugglers and customs men[...]
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