Charlie McCarthy en · NOUN
Etymology
After Charlie McCarthy, the dummy of ventriloquist Edgar Bergen.
Meanings
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(dated) A person under the control of another; a puppet or mouthpiece.
For the next thirty minutes, I was kind of a prop, his Charlie McCarthy, as he explained some of the things about the building.
1999, Department of Arkansas Heritage, Outside the Pale: The Architecture of Fay Jones (page 12)The president has perfected his role as politics' answer to ventriloquist Edgar Bergen—using the Democrats as his Charlie McCarthy.
2008, Byron Williams, Strip Mall Patriotism: Moral Reflections on the Iraq War, page 127: