bashi-bazouk

American  

[bash-ee-buh-zook] / ˌbæʃ i bəˈzuk /

noun

1. (formerly) one of a class of irregular mounted troops in the Turkish military service.

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Etymology

Origin of bashi-bazouk

First recorded in 1850–55, bashi-bazouk is from the Turkish word başι-bozuk civilian, irregular, originally, leaderless, not attached (to a regular military unit), literally, (one) whose head (is) broken

Example Sentences

There is something about him as exotic as a samovar, as essentially un-American as a bashi-bazouk, a nose-ring or a fugue.

From A Book of Prefaces by Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis)

Even a bashi-bazouk must have quailed before that amazing declaration and that patient resignation to fate.

From The Skipper and the Skipped Being the Shore Log of Cap'n Aaron Sproul by Day, Holman

Bulgaria and Rumelia; a bashi-bazouk in Constantinople, a forced marriage—I suppose that's bound to come—and all the rest....

From The Gay Adventure A Romance by Bird, Richard

Fellow-soldier, be a scalawag, be a bashi-bazouk, be a Billy-Wilsoneer, if you wish to see the fun in the van!

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 08, No. 45, July, 1861 by Various