visiting fireman

Also found in: Thesaurus, Idioms.

visiting fireman

n. Informal

1. An important visitor who is entertained impressively.

2. A visitor, especially a tourist or conventioneer, thought to be a free spender.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

visiting fireman

informal US a visitor whose presence is noticed because he is an important figure, a lavish spender, etc

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

vis′iting fire′man

n. Informal.

an influential person accorded special treatment while visiting an organization, industry, city, etc.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun

visiting fireman - an important or distinguished visitor

visitant, visitor - someone who visits

Mentioned in ?

References in periodicals archive ?

Ceboom or Ceboon, this favorite "island in the Pacific" that magnetizes and hypnotizes Koreans was not built in a day, but after two days in Cebu, the visiting fireman can see that its streets are generally cleaner and more orderly than those typical of Metro Manila's downtowns, and as one enamored observer dared to say, "people here are respectful and cordial, their kindness is not a put-on."

The place to be

Very few museum professionals ever go down into their halls while the public is also there, to see what people are really doing; such rare visits by the staff are usually to show a visiting fireman around, or to impress a dignitary.

It's the artifacts, stupid!

One visiting fireman from Dublin said: "This is so outrageous it's unbelieveable.