Complete Definition of "hoodlum"

English

Pronunciation
IPA|/�hud.l��m/

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".

Noun
en-noun

  1. a gangster; a hired thug
  2. a rough or violent youth

Translations
trans-top|a gangster; a hired thug
Finnish: gangsteri
trans-mid
trans-bottom

trans-top|a rough or violent youth
Finnish: hulttio
trans-mid
trans-bottom

Translations to be checked
checktrans

ttbc|Japanese: ���� (chimpira)
mid

vi:hoodlum
zh:hoodlum

Revision and Credits for"hoodlum"
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