gumshoe

gumshoe
   American
   an investigator in plain clothes
   He has an ability to walk quietly on rubber soles. He may be a policeman or a private detective:
    Don't you call me 'sister' you cheap gumshoe. (Chandler, 1958, insulting a policeman)
    The president's private eye... had become for all intents and purposes the exclusive gumshoe of White House counsel John Dean. (Colodny and Gettlin, 1991)

How not to say what you mean: A dictionary of euphemisms. . 2014.

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  • gumshoe — gum shoe n. 1. A detective; a private eye. [slang] [PJC] 2. A shoe made of rubber, as a rubber overshoe. [PJC] 3. A sneaker[3]. [PJC] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • gumshoe — index prowl Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • gumshoe — plainclothes detective, 1906, from the rubber soled shoes they wore (which were so called from 1863); from GUM (Cf. gum) (1) + SHOE (Cf. shoe) …   Etymology dictionary

  • Gumshoe —    Comédie de Stephen Frears, avec Albert Finney (Eddie Ginley), Billie Whitelaw (Ellen), Frank Finlay (William), Janice RuleMrs. Blankerscoon), Carolyn Seymour (Alison Wyatt).   Scénario: Neville Smith   Photographie: Chris Menges   Décor:… …   Dictionnaire mondial des Films

  • gumshoe — ☆ gumshoe [gum′sho͞o΄ ] n. [ GUM1 (rubber) + SHOE] 1. a) a rubber overshoe b) [pl.] sneakers 2. Slang a detective vi. gumshoed, gumshoeing …   English World dictionary

  • gumshoe — I n A private investigator. Sally hired a low life gumshoe to tail her husband. 1940s II n Detective. Some gumshoe has been tailing me all afternoon. 1860s …   Historical dictionary of American slang

  • gumshoe — UK [ˈɡʌmˌʃuː] / US [ˈɡʌmˌʃu] noun [countable] Word forms gumshoe : singular gumshoe plural gumshoes American old fashioned a detective 2) …   English dictionary

  • gumshoe — [“gam1 Ju] n. a policeman or a detective. (Underworld. Also a term of address. So named for wearing silent, gum rubber soles.) □ Has that gumshoe been around asking questions again? □ Look, gumshoe, what do you want with me? …   Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions

  • gumshoe — noun /ˈɡʌm.ʃuː/ a) A sneaker or rubber overshoe. Whos this gumshoe guy from the bush league tailin us? b) A detective. Syn: detective, dick …   Wiktionary

  • gumshoe — Synonyms and related words: Dogberry, John Law, Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes, beagle, bluecoat, bobby, bull, cop, copper, couch, crawl, creep, dick, eye, flatfoot, flattie, fuzz, gendarme, go on tiptoe, grovel, gumshoe man, hawkshaw, heat, inch,… …   Moby Thesaurus

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