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carpetbagger definition

☆ carpet·bagger (-bag′ər)

noun

  1. any of the Northern politicians or adventurers who went South to take advantage of unsettled conditions after the Civil War: contemptuous term with reference to the luggage they used in traveling light
  2. any politician, promoter, etc. from the outside whose influence is resented

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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