shamus

[shah-muh s, shey-]

See more synonyms for shamus on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural sha·mus·es. Slang.

a detective.
a police officer.

Origin of shamus

1925–30; of obscure origin, though popularly derived from either Yiddish shames shammes or the Irish male given name Séamas

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

Related Words for shamus

sleuth, reporter, agent, spy, informer, prosecutor, fink, eye, snoop, tail, scout, bull, shadow, analyst, cop, eavesdropper, constable, gumshoe, dick, fed

Examples from the Web for shamus

Contemporary Examples of shamus

When I was 10 or 11 years old, a movie company came to town to do this Burt Reynolds movie, Shamus.
How ‘Transcendence’ Director Wally Pfister Became Christopher Nolan’s Secret Weapon
Andrew Romano
April 17, 2014
Shamus Award–winning author Peter Spiegelman returns with this psychologically thrilling novel.
This Week’s Hot Reads
July 27, 2010

Historical Examples of shamus

And he asked Shamus, but he pretended he was ill—Oh, he was very unwell!
Angling Sketches
Andrew Lang
The recitation of "Shamus O'Brien" seemed tame by comparison.
A Pirate of Parts
Richard Neville
"You do not badly for a beginner," said he when Shamus had finished.
The Cat in Grandfather's House
Carl Henry Grabo
Then Shamus began to walk slowly away, and the Queen followed.
The Cat in Grandfather's House
Carl Henry Grabo
Shamus told her the story of his wanderings and produced the goblet.
The Cat in Grandfather's House
Carl Henry Grabo

British Dictionary definitions for shamus

shamus

noun plural -muses

US slang a police or private detective

Word Origin for shamus

probably from shammes, influenced by Irish Séamas James

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 shamus

"police officer, detective," 1920, apparently first in "The Shamus," a detective story published that year by Harry J. Loose (1880-1943), a Chicago police detective and crime writer; the book was marketed as "a true tale of thiefdom and an expose of the real system in crime." The word is said to be probably from Yiddish shames, literally "sexton of a synagogue" ("a potent personage only next in influence to the President" [Israel Zangwill]), from Hebrew shamash "servant;" influenced by Celtic Seamus "James," as a typical name for an Irish cop.