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• sherlock
  sherlock

  noun

  a private detective.
• Sherlock
  Sherlock

  noun

  a male given name: from an Old English word meaning “fair-haired.”

sherlock

¹ American  

[shur-lok] / ˈʃɜr lɒk /

Or Sherlock

noun

Informal.

1. a private detective.

2. a person remarkably adept at solving mysteries, especially by using insight and logical deduction.

   Who's the sherlock who can tell me where my pen is?

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Sherlock ² American  

[shur-lok] / ˈʃɜr lɒk /

noun

1. a male given name: from an Old English word meaning “fair-haired.”

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Etymology

Origin of sherlock

After Sherlock Holmes, fictitious detective created by Arthur Conan Doyle

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sherlock Sherlock

Topics: , sherlock, BBC, Greece, Memory Techniques, , This article originally appeared on .

From Salon ● Feb. 9, 2014

But if the plainclothes nose around, are they going to sherlock the parish priest and the town bughunter?

From Slippy McGee, Sometimes Known as the Butterfly Man by Oemler, Marie Conway

The third film takes Enola, the teenage sister of Sherlock Holmes, to Malta, where her future with Tewkesbury is interrupted by a dangerous new case involving Sherlock's disappearance.

From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026

IBM used to have a series of agents that went by names like Harry, Hermione, Charlie and Sherlock.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026

But perhaps the laconic statement from Marie Sherlock of the center-left Labour Party captured the spirit of this ugly encounter in a more realistic mode.

From Salon ● Mar. 18, 2026

Sherlockians and film historians weigh in on their favorite Sherlock Holmes adaptations, from 1916’s “Sherlock Holmes” to 2012’s “Elementary.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 4, 2026

Bertillon’s fame was so great that he was described in a Sherlock Holmes story as the greatest detective in Europe.

From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day