coolie
an unskilled laborer, especially formerly in China and India.
an unskilled laborer employed cheaply, especially one brought from Asia.
a contemptuous term used to refer to an Asian, especially an Indian living in South Africa.
Informal. characteristic of or suitable for a coolie: working for coolie wages.
Origin of coolie
1- Also coo·ly .
usage note For coolie
Words Nearby coolie
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use coolie in a sentence
A coolie would pay as much as 400 pesos premium to find himself where he could earn up to 100 pesos per month.
The Philippine Islands | John ForemanThe coolie-track had led them into the widest part of the Maidan, where it slopes to the south, and the huts of Bowanipore.
Hilda | Sarah Jeanette DuncanI made my way with one coolie to a spot some little distance above our First Advanced Camp.
Mount Everest the Reconnaissance, 1921 | Charles Kenneth Howard-BuryAs the night was closing in a coolie was observed running down the last steep sandy slope to our camp.
Mount Everest the Reconnaissance, 1921 | Charles Kenneth Howard-BuryOne coolie, and then two others, fell out and could not be induced to come further.
Mount Everest the Reconnaissance, 1921 | Charles Kenneth Howard-Bury
British Dictionary definitions for coolie
cooly
/ (ˈkuːlɪ) /
a cheaply hired unskilled Oriental labourer
derogatory an Indian living in South Africa
Origin of coolie
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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