gumshoe
Americannoun
-
Slang. a detective.
-
a shoe made of gum elastic or India rubber; rubber overshoe.
verb (used without object)
noun
-
a waterproof overshoe
-
a rubber-soled shoe
-
slang a detective or one who moves about stealthily
-
slang a stealthy action or movement
verb
Etymology
Origin of gumshoe
Explanation
When you wear gumshoes, you're pulling on waterproof galoshes over your regular footwear. If you are a gumshoe, on the other hand, you're a private detective, investigating a case. The "detective" meaning of this word comes from the "galoshes" definition. In fact, during the late 19th century, gumshoes or gums were any type of rubber-soled shoes. Around the turn of the 20th century, to gumshoe meant "to sneak around," and by 1906, gumshoe became a common nickname for plainclothes detectives (or "private eyes"), famous for moving stealthily in their quiet rubber-soled shoes.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Kilpatrick isn’t entirely fresh to the gumshoe storytelling business, having appeared in HBO’s “Perry Mason.”
From Salon • Apr. 2, 2024
Melling’s scenery-chewing portrayal of the budding writer — and, here, amateur gumshoe — is one of the film’s chief delights.
From Washington Post • Jan. 3, 2023
With Sam Rockwell playing a fedora-wearing gumshoe and Saoirse Ronan as an overeager police constable with an adorable Scottish accent, this looks like one of the most fun comedies of the fall season.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 9, 2022
In the series, Prioress does a lot more gumshoe investigating.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 29, 2022
In literature and in the popular imagination, the all-seeing private eye—the gumshoe, the cinder dick, the sleuthhound, the shadow—displaced the crusading sheriff as the archetype of rough justice.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
