gumshoe

1 of 2

noun

gum·​shoe ˈgəm-ˌshü How to pronounce gumshoe (audio)

gumshoe

2 of 2

verb

gumshoed; gumshoeing

intransitive verb

: to engage in detective work

Examples of gumshoe in a Sentence

Noun the couple paid a gumshoe to look for their missing son
Recent Examples on the Web
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Noun
Alas, by then the cheese heiress has skipped the country, and one Mickey Finn later our gumshoe comes to consciousness aboard an eastbound ship on the Atlantic. Kathryn Schulz, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025 Chris Columbus, director of Home Alone and the first two Harry Potter films, helms the comedic caper, which follows an amiable gang of gumshoes who spend their golden years investigating cold cases. Randall Colburn, EW.com, 28 Aug. 2025 Wednesday has been reduced to a psychic gumshoe prone to seizures and crying blood (or unnamed black fluid) from the overuse of her powers. Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 6 Aug. 2025 Io is a world-weary gumshoe who can see all the threads that bind mortals to their fates and uses this unusual perception to solve mysteries and crimes. John Wiswell, People.com, 3 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for gumshoe

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1913, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1897, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of gumshoe was in 1897

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Cite this Entry

“Gumshoe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gumshoe. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

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