shamus
/ˈʃeɪməs
/noun North American informal
A private detective.Chandler, to whom pulp fiction had come late in life, had written his first Marlowe novel, ‘The Big Sleep, ‘in 1939, followed by six more novels about the L.A. shamus....
- The criminals are more interesting than the stoic shamus.
- Switchblade in hand, Polanski advances on the cornered shamus, chastising Gittes for being a ‘nosy guy.’
Origin
1920s: of unknown origin.