"old boy network" meaning in English

See old boy network in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: En-au-old boy network.ogg Forms: old boy networks [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun|head=old boy network}} old boy network (plural old boy networks)
  1. (idiomatic) A presumed unacknowledged system of association between childhood friends (especially those at school or university together), used for mutual assistance or favouritism. Tags: idiomatic Synonyms: good old boy network, old-boy network Related terms: cronyism, male, pale and stale, old boys' club Translations (system of favouritism): vanhojen kaverien verkosto (Finnish), gutteklubb [masculine] (Norwegian Bokmål), gutteklubben Grei (Norwegian Bokmål), kolesiostwo [neuter] (Polish)

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "old boy networks",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "head": "old boy network"
      },
      "expansion": "old boy network (plural old boy networks)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
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        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations",
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2007, Tim Weiner, Legacy of Ashes, Penguin, published 2008, page 7:",
          "text": "His hiring and promotion of senior officers rested not on merit but on an old-boy network of connections from Wall Street and the Social Register.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1982 April 10, David Morris, “Highly Segregated”, in Gay Community News, page 2:",
          "text": "Another BWMT member said bars have no open advertising for bartenders and no affirmative action policy. He said bars hire \"young, good looking white men\" through an \"old-boy network.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A presumed unacknowledged system of association between childhood friends (especially those at school or university together), used for mutual assistance or favouritism."
      ],
      "id": "en-old_boy_network-en-noun-OR073yYD",
      "links": [
        [
          "unacknowledged",
          "unacknowledged"
        ],
        [
          "association",
          "association"
        ],
        [
          "childhood friend",
          "childhood friend"
        ],
        [
          "assistance",
          "assistance"
        ],
        [
          "favouritism",
          "favouritism"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A presumed unacknowledged system of association between childhood friends (especially those at school or university together), used for mutual assistance or favouritism."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "cronyism"
        },
        {
          "word": "male, pale and stale"
        },
        {
          "word": "old boys' club"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "good old boy network"
        },
        {
          "word": "old-boy network"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "system of favouritism",
          "word": "vanhojen kaverien verkosto"
        },
        {
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "system of favouritism",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "gutteklubb"
        },
        {
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "system of favouritism",
          "word": "gutteklubben Grei"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "system of favouritism",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "kolesiostwo"
        }
      ]
    }
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  "word": "old boy network"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "old boy networks",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "head": "old boy network"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "cronyism"
    },
    {
      "word": "male, pale and stale"
    },
    {
      "word": "old boys' club"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
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      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned",
        "Terms with Finnish translations",
        "Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations",
        "Terms with Polish translations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2007, Tim Weiner, Legacy of Ashes, Penguin, published 2008, page 7:",
          "text": "His hiring and promotion of senior officers rested not on merit but on an old-boy network of connections from Wall Street and the Social Register.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1982 April 10, David Morris, “Highly Segregated”, in Gay Community News, page 2:",
          "text": "Another BWMT member said bars have no open advertising for bartenders and no affirmative action policy. He said bars hire \"young, good looking white men\" through an \"old-boy network.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A presumed unacknowledged system of association between childhood friends (especially those at school or university together), used for mutual assistance or favouritism."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "unacknowledged",
          "unacknowledged"
        ],
        [
          "association",
          "association"
        ],
        [
          "childhood friend",
          "childhood friend"
        ],
        [
          "assistance",
          "assistance"
        ],
        [
          "favouritism",
          "favouritism"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A presumed unacknowledged system of association between childhood friends (especially those at school or university together), used for mutual assistance or favouritism."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "good old boy network"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
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  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "old-boy network"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "system of favouritism",
      "word": "vanhojen kaverien verkosto"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "system of favouritism",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "gutteklubb"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "system of favouritism",
      "word": "gutteklubben Grei"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "system of favouritism",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "kolesiostwo"
    }
  ],
  "word": "old boy network"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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