AllWords.com Home

English Dictionary - With Multi-Lingual Search

  
Definitions
hoodlum Twit Definition of hoodlum Share Definition of hoodlum on Facebook Digg:Definition of hoodlum! stumble Definition of hoodlum Bookmark Definition of hoodlum on Delicious submit Definition of hoodlum to reddit Bookmark Definition of hoodlum
noun 
  1. a gangster; a hired thug
  2. a rough or violent youth
Translations: 
    Etymology: According to Herbert Asbury in his book The Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld (1933, A. A. Knopf, New York), the word originated in San Francisco during the 19th century from the call of a particular street gang, "huddle 'em". San Francisco newspapers thereafter took to calling gangs generally "hoodlums".The word early evolved into the shortened form "hood", especially during the 1920's. Gangsters were often referred to as "hoods".

         Source Definition of hoodlum
      

     Find:
      Words Starting With:
      Words Ending With:
      Words Containing:
      Words That Match:

     
     Translate Into:
      
    Dutch   French   German
      
    Italian   Spanish
        Show results per page.

    Google
     

    Browse the Dictionary
    A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

     
      

       
    Dictionary content provided from Wiktionary.org under the GNU Free Documentation License
    Allwords Copyright 1998-2009 Allsites LLC. All rights reserved.