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merry-andrew (n.)
"a buffoon; a zany; a jack-pudding" [Johnson], "One whose business it is to make sport for others by jokes and ridiculous posturing" [Century Dictionary], according to OED, in early use properly a mountebank's assistant, 1670s, from merry + masc. proper name Andrew, but there is no certain identification with an individual, and the name here may be generic.
updated on December 29, 2018
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Dictionary entries near merry-andrew
merriment
merrow
merry
merry man
merry widow
merry-andrew
merry-go-round
merrymaking
merrythought
Mersey
mesa