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shamus love

shamus

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A police officer.
  • noun A private investigator.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A private detective.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Perhaps from the common Irish name Séamus, James (from the many Irish Americans who traditionally served on American police forces ), or from shammes (the duties of a detective being likened to those of a shamash ).]

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Examples

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rhymes (6)

Words with the same terminal sound

  1. Amos
  2. Seamus
  3. famous
  4. ignoramus
  5. mandamus
  6. ramus

Comments

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  • thinkcharlene commented on the word shamus

    The Big Sleep

    February 14, 2007

  • trivet commented on the word shamus

    police officer, detective.

    1925, probably from Yiddish, lit. "sexton of a synagogue," from Heb. shamash "servant;" influenced by Celt. Seamus "James," as a typical name for an Irish cop.

    October 3, 2007

  • yarb commented on the word shamus

    'The cop said, "Your Dad's been hurt, girlie. He's hurt real bad." He wasn't like a shamus now; he was more like the sort of man who might have a daughter himself.'

    - Nightmare Alley, William Lindsay Gresham

    June 30, 2012