second banana

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second banana

noun second bananas

colloquial, idiomatic A comedian who plays a secondary or supporting role, especially as straight man and traditionally in vaudeville or burlesque theatre. He grew disenchanted with playing second banana and never getting credit for the laughter.
colloquial, idiomatic A person who serves in a supporting, secondary, or subsidiary capacity; an assistant. The plumber left his second banana behind, to finish installing my new sink.

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MLA

"second banana." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/second%20banana. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

second banana. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/second%20banana

Chicago

"second banana." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/second%20banana.

BibTeX

@misc{second_banana_2026,
  title = {second banana},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/second%20banana},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}