gumshoe
/ˈɡʌmʃuː
/noun North American informal
A detective: he’d been intrigued enough to put a gumshoe on the case...
- He wasn't the gumshoe, the private eye, the detective of the forties in the black and white noir.
- As he slowly recovers, he imagines scenes from his first novel, The Singing Detective, with himself as the lead character, a gumshoe who croons on the side.
- In a 1940s-style apartment befitting a film noir gumshoe, a Montreal private eye shows off a collection of futuristic gizmos spread over his kitchen table.
Origin
Early 20th century: from gumshoes in the sense 'sneakers', suggesting stealth.