E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Log-roller (A).
One engaged in log-rolling, that is (metaphorically) in furthering another’s schemes or fads; persons who laud a friend to promote the sale of his books, etc. The allusion is to neighbours who assist a new settler to roll away the logs of his “clearing.”
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“The members [of Congress] … . make a compact by which each aids the other. This is logrolling.”—Bryce: Commonwealth, vol. ii. part iii. chap. lxvii. page 125 (1889).
