Shamus
name, noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A private detective; originally, a policeman or police detective. US, slang
"“That's what you're here for. Didn't your aunt tell you? She wants you to follow Wilbert Cream and Phyllis about everywhere and see that he doesn't get a chance of proposing.” “You mean that I'm to be a sort of private eye or shamus, tailing them up? I don't like it,” I said dubiously."
- 2 someone who can be employed as a detective to collect information and assist in criminal investigations wordnet
- 1 Alternative spelling of Seamus. alt-of, alternative
Example
More examples"“That's what you're here for. Didn't your aunt tell you? She wants you to follow Wilbert Cream and Phyllis about everywhere and see that he doesn't get a chance of proposing.” “You mean that I'm to be a sort of private eye or shamus, tailing them up? I don't like it,” I said dubiously."
Etymology
Said to be from the Irish name Séamus, on account of many American police officers being of Irish descent.
Related phrases
More for "shamus"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.