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goombah

noun goom·bah \ ˈgüm-ˌbä \

Definition of goombah

1 informal : a close friend or associate —used especially among Italian-American men
2 informal : a member of a secret chiefly Italian-American crime organization : mafioso; broadly : gangster
3 informal : a macho Italian-American man

Origin and Etymology of goombah

Italian dialect (Campania) cumbà, vocative form of cumbare respected older man, literally, godfather, from Medieval Latin compater — more at compeer

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