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pistolero

American  
[pis-tl-air-oh, pees-taw-le-raw] / ˌpɪs tlˈɛər oʊ, ˌpis tɔˈlɛ rɔ /

noun

  • pistoleros
    plural
  1. a member of an armed band of roving mounted bandits.

  2. a gunman or hired killer.


Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of pistolero

1935–40; < Spanish, equivalent to pistol ( a ) pistol + -ero < Latin -ārius -ary

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.

See Examples For:

El Asado, a black trailer decorated with a skeletal pistolero, is open weekends at the Commerce swap meet.

From Los Angeles Times Apr. 16, 2019

A crack shot with a six-shooter, he breaks the fourth wall by jocularly talking to the audience and praising his own pistolero skills.

From Seattle Times Nov. 13, 2018

To prove Shanny wrong, Griffin will work fanatically now to learn to be a defense-reading pocket-passing NFL quarterback who also uses speed, not a college spread-offense pistolero.

From Washington Post Dec. 13, 2013

Scott Kempner plays a hard guitar, writes most of the Del-Lords' material and takes his lead vocals on songs the way a pistolero goes for his gun.

From Time Magazine Archive

He ran away to Mexico and grew up a pistolero in the service of a provincial dictator.

From Time Magazine Archive

Almodóvar remembered the sequence with the two pistoleros, added a scene-setting prologue and a guns-out aftermath, and offered Vaccarrello the screenplay for the 31-minute “Strange Way of Life.”

From New York Times May 16, 2023

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