What is "palookas"

Usage examples of "palookas".

For the first time in his life, he owned a luxurious home, decorated just the way that he and Gay had wanted, and he could turn around to all those capitalist palookas who had tried to crush him, and grind him and his union out of existence, and he could raise two rigid fingers.

If consensus had been reached I hadn't heard, and half of these palookas had forgotten it by now.

Poor Jimnmy Carter issues orders from the White House-some `Joint Chiefs of Staff' palookas issue orders from the Pentagon-thousands of miles away in a godfor-.