gumshoe

[ guhm-shoo ]
See synonyms for: gumshoegumshoedgumshoeing on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. Slang. a detective.

  2. a shoe made of gum elastic or India rubber; rubber overshoe.

verb (used without object),gum·shoed, gum·shoe·ing.
  1. Slang.

    • to work as a detective.

    • to go softly, as if wearing rubber shoes; move or act snoopily or stealthily.

Origin of gumshoe

1
An Americanism dating back to 1860–65; gum1 + shoe

Words Nearby gumshoe

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use gumshoe in a sentence

  • I'm sure the gumshoe when it comes to pipin' a man off so's I got his photograph in my eye.

    Under Handicap | Jackson Gregory
  • A gumshoe outlasts a hobnailed sole and a rubber tube full of air is better than a steel tire.

    Creative Chemistry | Edwin E. Slosson
  • And consider the appropriateness of the figures of speech, as gumshoe would say.

    Deering of Deal | Latta Griswold
  • One for the gumshoe, said Tony blithely, as they turned onto the campus.

    Deering of Deal | Latta Griswold

British Dictionary definitions for gumshoe

gumshoe

/ (ˈɡʌmˌʃuː) /


noun
  1. a waterproof overshoe

  2. US and Canadian a rubber-soled shoe

  1. US and Canadian slang a detective or one who moves about stealthily

  2. US and Canadian slang a stealthy action or movement

verb-shoes, -shoeing or -shoed
  1. (intr) US and Canadian slang to act stealthily

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