'Merry-andrew' definitions:

Definition of 'Merry-andrew'

From: GCIDE
  • Merry-andrew \Mer"ry-an"drew\ (m[e^]r"r[y^]-[a^]n"dr[udd]), n. One whose business is to make sport for others; a buffoon; a zany; especially, one who attends a mountebank or quack doctor. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: This term is said to have originated from one Andrew Borde, an English physician of the 16th century, who gained patients by facetious speeches to the multitude. [1913 Webster]