house dick
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˈhaʊs dɪk/
- NSFW
:
detective privado
- The house dick quickly uncovered the guest's attempt to steal from the safe.
Examples
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Back in the 1940s, every major hotel in the city employed a house dick.
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The hotel hired a house dick to monitor the guests.
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When valuables went missing, management called in the house dick to investigate.
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Many house dicks work undercover to catch thieves.
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The hotel hired a house dick to investigate reports of stolen jewelry from guests.
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As a house dick, his job was to ensure the safety of customers while monitoring for any suspicious activity.
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The retail store assigned a house dick to handle any cases of shoplifting and maintain security.
Synonyms
4
8.8
A person hired to find facts or solve crimes for paying clients
1
6.5
A person hired by a hotel or store to watch for theft
A person who works at a hotel to find thieves and keep guests safe
How Formal
64
3.7
- UK
1
4.9
- Archaic
1
6.5
- NSFW
1
9.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'house' (an establishment or firm) + 'dick' (colloquial for detective) yields a detective employed by the establishment, so the overall sense is predictable from the parts. Note that 'dick' is slang/taboo and register may cause confusion, but given the provided constituent meanings the construction follows a common 'house + profession' pattern and is understandable to learners who know both words.
Etymology
The noun house dick comes from the idea of a detective who works for one place: house means the hotel or store and dick was a common word for a private detective. So it means 'a private detective employed by that hotel or store'.