shamuses

noun

plural of shamus, slang
1
as in policemen
a member of a force charged with law enforcement at the local level a hard-bitten L.A. shamus who, when he's not battling crooks, is locking horns with his superiors

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in detectives
a person not on the police force who investigates criminal or illicit activity or searches for missing persons he's a shamus who mostly finds evidence to use in divorce cases

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for shamuses
  1. policemen
  2. detectives
  3. officers
  4. investigators
  5. cops
  6. private detectives
  7. constables
  8. private investigators
Noun
  • People began rioting in Los Angeles’ predominantly Black Watts neighborhood after a crowd watched White policemen forcefully subdue a Black man.
    — USA Today, USA Today, 28 July 2026
  • Over the weekend, dozens of plain-clothes policemen entered the protest site and dragged Wangchuk into an ambulance.
    — Omkar Khandekar, NPR, 20 July 2026
Definition of policemen
Noun
  • Detectives spoke with another psychic who first reached out to Sophie’s family before detectives followed up with them, police said, adding the psychic had offered services for free.
    — Amanda Musa, CNN Money, 16 Aug. 2026
  • According to Fort Worth police, homicide detectives are investigating.
    — Doug Myers, CBS News, 16 Aug. 2026
Definition of detectives
Noun
  • The department said officers responded to a home Friday night in the area of South Main and Mann streets, where they were told that a man climbed through a window and assaulted someone who lives there.
    — Logan Hall, CBS News, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Hegseth has aggressively moved to reshape the military's senior ranks, removing or sidelining more than two dozen senior officers, without explanation, including a number of women and minorities.
    — Steven Beynon, ABC News, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of officers
Noun
  • The affidavit in the case says investigators found three checks Fernandez Saldana wrote to Tenon in October 2022, CNN previously reported, and phone records show the men had more than 60 phone contacts with each other.
    — Danya Gainor, CNN Money, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Combs has repeatedly denied any involvement in Shakur’s killing and has never been named by investigators as a suspect or even a person of interest in the case.
    — Sasha Pezenik, ABC News, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of investigators
Noun
  • Bronx prosecutors took his case all the way to a jury, which rejected the cops’ version of events and acquitted him, the Daily News reported at the time.
    — Kerry Burke, New York Daily News, 9 Aug. 2026
  • At first, everyone assumes Ji-Seok is on an extended bender or hiding from the cops.
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of cops
Noun
  • Meanwhile, private detectives probed Hadley’s vulnerabilities as a witness.
    — Heidi Blake, New Yorker, 8 June 2026
  • The trio took the stage at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles as part of a PaleyFest event commemorating five decades of Charlie's Angels, the groundbreaking ABC series that followed a group of female private detectives.
    — Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Apr. 2026
Definition of private detectives
Noun
  • The woman was able to flee the scene and located deputy constables.
    — Adam England, PEOPLE, 15 July 2026
  • Troopers and Beacon Falls constables responded to the home and detained Drozdowski, state police said.
    — Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 6 May 2026
Definition of constables
Noun
  • The Dink star’s new series costars Keith David, Langston Kerman, and Mary Shalaby in a comedy about private investigators working in Los Angeles.
    — Raechal Shewfelt, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Aug. 2026
  • Harry and the six other high-profile claimants failed to prove their allegations that the publisher unlawfully obtained private information through methods including private investigators, deception, phone hacking and corrupt payments.
    — Erin Hill, PEOPLE, 7 July 2026
Definition of private investigators
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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shamus
shamuses
shanghai
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Cite this Entry

“Shamuses.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shamuses. Accessed 17 Aug. 2026.

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