Wordnet 3.0
NOUN (1)
1.
one who uses secret influence (i.e. pulls wires or strings) for his own ends;
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
wirepuller \wirepuller\, Wire-puller \Wire"-pull`er\, n.
One who pulls the wires, as of a puppet; hence, one who uses
secret influence (i.e. pulls wires or strings) for his own
ends; an intriguer.
[1913 Webster]
Political wire-pullers and convention packers.
--Lowell.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
wire-puller
n 1: one who uses secret influence (i.e. pulls wires or strings)
for his own ends