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definitions

Charlie

[chahr-lee]
|

noun

a word used in communications to represent the letter C.
Military Slang. Charley.
a male given name, form of Charles.
a female given name.

Charley

or Char·lie

[chahr-lee]

noun, plural Char·leys. Military Slang.

Victor Charlie.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for charlies

Historical Examples of charlies

  • Not that he had any exalted idea of Charlies ability as a farmer.

    Pickett's Gap

    Homer Greene

  • Since Charlies arrival, the night before, no word had passed between them.

    Pickett's Gap

    Homer Greene

  • With Charlies toy drum strung round his neck on a narrow blue ribbon, he was distinctly mirth-inspiring.

  • Their sylvan life, Pamelas and Charlies, was almost as unknown to her as that of the birds they watched.

  • It was early spring when Charlies wife died; it was late August now.

    Pickett's Gap

    Homer Greene

British Dictionary definitions for charlies

charlie

noun

British informal a silly person; fool
Australian old-fashioned, informal a girl or woman

Word Origin for charlie

C20: for sense 1: shortened from Charlie Hunt, rhyming slang for cunt; sense 2 is shortened from Charlie Wheeler, rhyming slang for sheila

Charlie

1

noun

communications a code word for the letter c

Charlie

2

Charley

noun

US and Australian military slang a member of the Vietcong or the Vietcong collectivelyCharlie hit us with rockets

Word Origin for Charlie

shortened from Victor Charlie, communications code for VC, abbreviation of Vietcong

Charlie

3

noun

slang cocaine
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for charlies

Charlie

masc. proper name, familiar form of Charles (also see -y (3)); 1965 in Vietnam War U.S. military slang for "Vietcong, Vietcong soldier," probably suggested by Victor Charlie, military communication code for V.C. (as abbreviation of Viet Cong), perhaps strengthened by World War II slang use of Charlie for Japanese soldiers, which itself is probably an extension of the 1930s derogatory application of Charlie to any Asian man, from fictional Chinese detective Charlie Chan.

Other applications include "a night watchman" (1812); "a goatee beard" (1834, from portraits of King Charles I and his contemporaries); "a fox" (1857); "a woman's breasts" (1874); "an infantryman's pack" (World War I); and "a white man" (Mr. Charlie), 1960, American English, from black slang.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper