old stager

noun

noun

Idiomatic A veteran; an experienced person.

“There'll be no holding you,” continued the old stager, grimly.1889, Rudyard Kipling, “The Education of Otis Yeere”, in Under the Deodars, Boston: The Greenock Press, published 1899, page 32:
Thank goodness for 'old stagers' such as BBC veteran journalist Paul Clifton, who saw the truth behind the spin.2023 August 9, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Disinterested and dishonest”, in RAIL, number 989, page 3:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.