Knickerbocker

[nik-er-bok-er]

noun

a descendant of the Dutch settlers of New York.
any New Yorker.

Origin of Knickerbocker

1800–10, Americanism; generalized from Diedrich Knickerbocker, fictitious author of Washington Irving's History of New York

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for knickerbocker

Contemporary Examples of knickerbocker

On some, on the letterhead, it will say, Dashiell Hammett, Knickerbocker, San Francisco, California.
Lost Hammett Stories Discovered
Malcolm Jones
February 16, 2011
The last time he saw her was at lunch at the Knickerbocker Club in September 2001.
Is Brooke Astor's Son a Swindler?
Ralph Gardner, Jr.
May 1, 2009
Knickerbocker SKD also happens to have another client—the Rev. Al Sharpton, with whom Kennedy just had a media-event lunch.
Unknown Caroline
Harry Siegel
December 20, 2008

Historical Examples of knickerbocker

Here was the mythological monster that the Knickerbocker has become.
The Paliser case
Edgar Saltus
There was never anything quite like the Knickerbocker, and there never will be again.
Memoirs
Charles Godfrey Leland
The other was an odd mélange, which had appeared in chapters in the Knickerbocker Magazine.
Memoirs
Charles Godfrey Leland
He had read the Knickerbocker, and knew my name well, and took good care of us.
Memoirs
Charles Godfrey Leland
Soon after, Clark republished it in the Knickerbocker, saying that it was evidently by me.
Memoirs
Charles Godfrey Leland

British Dictionary definitions for knickerbocker

Knickerbocker

noun US

a descendant of the original Dutch settlers of New York
an inhabitant of New York

Word Origin for Knickerbocker

C19: named after Diedrich Knickerbocker, fictitious Dutchman alleged to be the author of Washington Irving's History of New York (1809)

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 knickerbocker

Knickerbocker

"descendant of Dutch settlers of New York," 1831, from Diedrich Knickerbocker, the name under which Washington Irving published his popular "History of New York" (1809). The pen-name was borrowed from Irving's friend Herman Knickerbocker, and literally means "toy marble-baker."