sherlock

[shur-lok] /ˈʃɜr lɒk/
noun, Informal.
1.
a private detective.
2.
a person remarkably adept at solving mysteries, especially by using insight and logical deduction:
Who's the sherlock who can tell me where my pen is?
Also, Sher·lock.
Origin
after Sherlock Holmes, fictitious detective created by Arthur Conan Doyle

Sherlock

[shur-lok] /ˈʃɜr lɒk/
noun
1.
a male given name: from an Old English word meaning “fair-haired.”.
Examples from the web for sherlock
  • sherlock rarely lets go of his, but has been known to fire a gun at the walls out of sheer boredom.
Contemporary definitions for sherlock
noun

a clever and perceptive person

Examples

That teenager is quite the sherlock.

Usage Note

slang

Word Origin and History for sherlock

Sherlock

masc. proper name, literally "fair-haired," from Old English scir "bright" + locc "lock of hair." Slang for "private detective, perceptive person" (the latter often ironic) is attested from 1903, from A.C. Doyle's fictional character Sherlock Holmes (full name in this sense used from 1896; Holmes debuted in 1887 and was popular by 1892).

Slang definitions & phrases for sherlock

Sherlock

noun

A clever and perceptive person • Often sarcastic: no shit, Sherlock