odd man

English

Etymology

From odd + man, probably after a Scandinavian source. Compare Old Norse odda-maðr.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈɒd man/

Noun

odd man (plural odd men)

  1. In a group having an odd number of people, someone with the casting vote; an arbiter. [from 15th c.]
  2. Someone who does odd jobs; an odd job man. [from 18th c.]
    • 1928, Siegfried Sassoon, Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man, Penguin 2013, p. 86:
      Their complexion was lustreless and clammy, although Aunt Evelyn's odd man had given them all the energy of his elbow.

Anagrams

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