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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

second banana en · NOUN

Pronunciation

Meanings

  1. (colloquial, idiomatic) A comedian who plays a secondary or supporting role, especially as straight man and traditionally in vaudeville or burlesque theatre.
    • He grew disenchanted with playing second banana and never getting credit for the laughter.
  2. (colloquial, idiomatic) A person who serves in a supporting, secondary, or subsidiary capacity; an assistant.
    • When you want to be the boss, but you can't, it's not a lot of fun to be second banana. 2012 August 30, Michael Smyth, “The lifeboat is filling up”, in The Province:
    • The plumber left his second banana behind, to finish installing my new sink.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
second bananas Number=Plur lexicographic

Relateds

second fiddle · top banana