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
  • Police said homicide detectives were called to the scene and a person of interest was detained.
    — Shambhavi Rimal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Psychiatrists need to be good detectives during the entire process, even after a patient is on a medicine.
    — Jen Christensen, CNN Money, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of detectives
Noun
  • After it was immobilized, the driver attempted to leave the vehicle and was apprehended by officers, according to NEA Report.
    — Daniel McFadin, Arkansas Online, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Many reviews mention that representatives and loan officers are easy to reach, knowledgeable, helpful and friendly.
    — Dan Simms, USA Today, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of officers
Noun
  • Rogue OpenAI agents’ unprecedented coordination during the Hugging Face attack significantly increases the risk of AI escaping human control, analysts said, days after investigators released a bombshell report into the incident.
    — Brendan Ruberry, semafor.com, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Because one of the boy's family members had measles, investigators tested the boy's lung tissue and found evidence of measles infection, Diamantoni said.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of investigators
Noun
  • But, practically speaking, none of it is imaginable or executable without digital technologies that are fundamentally black-boxed, inscrutable to individual cops on the beat and institutional decision-makers alike.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 24 Aug. 2026
  • Friday, a 27-year-old man shot to death outside NYCHA’s Pink Houses in East New York in what cops are investigating as a possible road rage clash when he was murdered, his family told an Indian news outlet.
    — Barry Paddock, New York Daily News, 23 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
  • In an interview with a neighbor, the private investigators learned that there was a cargo van outside the house at the time.
    — Jeremy Greenberg, ABC News, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Priestley and Sampson are reprising their roles as private investigators Matt Shade and Angie Everett.
    — Erik Pedersen, Deadline, 17 Aug. 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.

Browse Nearby Words

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 1 Sep. 2026.

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