hatchet man

by A. Makkai, M.T. Boatner, J.E. Gates

[hatchet man] {n.}, {colloquial}

1. A politician or newspaper columnist whose job is to write and say unfavorable things about the opposition.

* /Bill Lerner is the hatchet man for the Mayor's Party; he smears all the other candidates regularly./

2. An executive officer in a firm whose job it is to fire superfluous personnel, cut back on the budget, etc., in short, to do the necessary but unpleasant things.

* /The firm hired Cranhart to be hatchet man; his title is that of Executive Vice President./

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	{colloquial} ¹⁹ {n.} ⁹¹²

Source: A Dictionary of American Idioms

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