Crossword clues for shamus
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
"police officer, detective," 1920, apparently first in "The Shamus," a detective story published that year by Harry J. Loose (1880-1943), a Chicago police detective and crime writer; the book was marketed as "a true tale of thiefdom and an expose of the real system in crime." The word is said to be probably from Yiddish shames, literally "sexton of a synagogue" ("a potent personage only next in influence to the President" [Israel Zangwill]), from Hebrew shamash "servant;" influenced by Celtic Seamus "James," as a typical name for an Irish cop.
Wiktionary
n. A private detective.
WordNet
n. someone who can be employed as a detective to collect information [syn: private detective, PI, private eye, private investigator, operative, sherlock]
Wikipedia
Shamus is a flip screen action adventure game written by William Mataga (now Cathryn Mataga) and published by Synapse Software. Originally released for the Atari 8-bit computers in 1982, it was ported to the VIC-20, Commodore 64, TRS-80 Color Computer, TI-99/4A, and IBM PC. Several of these ports were made by Atarisoft. Ihor Wolosenko, co-founder of Synapse, noted that it was Shamus that really put the company on the map by giving it a reputation for quality. It was followed by a sequel, Shamus: Case II, with the same characters but different gameplay.
Mataga's original version was 16K in size and released on disk and tape for the Atari 8-bit family, and later sold by Atari on cartridge following the launch of the Atari XEGS in 1987. The VIC-20 port was 8K and contained only 32 levels (unlike the 128 in every other version). In 1999, Mataga developed a remake for the Game Boy Color, and later, both Shamus and Shamus: Case II for iOS.
Funeral March of a Marionette, the theme song from Alfred Hitchcock Presents, plays on the title screen.
Shamus may refer to:
- Slang term for a private investigator, from Yiddish
- Shamus (computer game), a 1980s computer game
- Shamus (film), a 1973 film starring Burt Reynolds
- Shamus Award, for best detective fiction
- Shamus, Iran, a village in Khuzestan Province, Iran
- Shamus Culhane (1908–1996), American animator, film director and producer
- Shamus Khan (born 1978), American sociologist
- Shamus O'Brien (1907–1981), Scottish-American soccer player
- Gareb Shamus, CEO of Wizard Entertainment
- Shamus Wong, a character from the children's book Tracey McBean
Shamus is a 1973 American film directed by Buzz Kulik, and stars Burt Reynolds and Dyan Cannon.
Usage examples of "shamus".
Tomas Gingerwart, who leads the three hundred daring settlers, and Shamus Kilronney, captain of the Kingsmen brigade, speak hopefully of a return to normalcy by the time winter relinquishes its grip on the land.
It was no secret that Nightbird had been working with Shamus Kilronney, captain of the Kingsmen brigade, to ensure the security of the land.
Both he and Shamus glanced at Colleen as he said it, and neither was surprised to find the angry woman frowning.
She realized that she would miss Shamus Kilronney, and her gaze lingered on him as he moved past her.
Many heads did turn to glance without interest at the two soldiers, Shamus in his splendid Kingsmen dress and Colleen in her weathered traveling outfit.
Bishop waved at the man to be quiet, locking stares with Shamus and then with Colleen.
He leaned forward in his chair, so that only she, and perhaps Shamus, could hear.
Colleen and Shamus in a side room furnished only with three small chairs and a tiny hearth.
Bishop had heard enough of the timing of the first meeting and began pressing Shamus, and then Colleen, more pointedly about the demeanor of the pair.
She recognized the clear distress in his every move and thought that Shamus, with his blind devotion, deserved a bit of discomfort.
It would be good fighting beside Shamus and the well-trained soldiers again, though better still would it be if the situation was not so complicated.
Elbryan said to Shamus Kilronney as soon as they had completed the pleasantries.
I assure you that the snow which fell the night before Shamus Kilronney arrived was no unusual storm for this part of the world.
Elbryan replied, his tone showing Shamus that there was no room for debate.
Indeed, Dundalis seemed more a fort than a settlement, an image only heightened by the presence of Shamus Kilronney and his men.