0 a person who performs mesmerism (= the act of putting someone into a mental state like sleep):
The mesmerist put on a very convincing demonstration.
Mesmerists, who claimed they could travel through time and magically heal patients, were very popular.
Mrs. Eddy began studying with the mesmerist, Phineas Quimby, in 1862.
On a popular level, the performances by mesmerists also encountered mixed reactions in the 1850s.
Hands was assisted by another man, also a mesmerist.
Although he had failed as an actor, he became wealthy as a traveling mesmerist, or "animal magnetiser", as it was then known.
