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View synonyms for gumshoe

gumshoe

[ guhm-shoo ]

noun

  1. Slang. a detective.
  2. a shoe made of gum elastic or India rubber; rubber overshoe.


verb (used without object)

, gum·shoed, gum·shoe·ing.
  1. Slang.
    1. to work as a detective.
    2. to go softly, as if wearing rubber shoes; move or act snoopily or stealthily.

gumshoe

/ ˈɡʌmˌʃuː /

noun

  1. a waterproof overshoe
  2. a rubber-soled shoe
  3. slang.
    a detective or one who moves about stealthily
  4. slang.
    a stealthy action or movement
“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


verb

  1. slang.
    intr to act stealthily
“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
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Word History and Origins

Origin of gumshoe1

An Americanism dating back to 1860–65; gum 1 + shoe
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Example Sentences

Montalbán endowed his Catalan gumshoe with an equally impressive set of quirks that are aired and explored in each book.

In some ways, The Hypnotist hews closer to the American gumshoe tradition.

The book on which I was doing all the gumshoe reporting, Godtalk, is now a time capsule.

Not some cheesy gumshoe operation with frosted-glass windows and the lingering stench of stale cigar smoke.

Under McCullogh's regime this open-shop gumshoe artist had free access to the jail with instructions to go as far as he liked.

I'm sure the gumshoe when it comes to pipin' a man off so's I got his photograph in my eye.

A gumshoe outlasts a hobnailed sole and a rubber tube full of air is better than a steel tire.

And consider the appropriateness of the figures of speech, as Gumshoe would say.

One for the Gumshoe, said Tony blithely, as they turned onto the campus.

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