E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Spellbinders.
Orators who hold their audience spellbound. The word came into use in America in the presidential election of 1888.
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“The Hon. Daniel Dougherty says: ‘The proudest day of his life was when he beheld his name among the “spell-binders” who held the audience in rapture with their eloquence.’”—Liberty Review, July 7th, 1894, p. 13.
