as in detective
a person not on the police force who investigates criminal or illicit activity or searches for missing persons
the firm hired a hawkshaw to find out who was fencing stock from their warehouse
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hawkshaw
Noun
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Guy Ritchie directed both Sherlock Holmes films, which starred Jude Law as the titular detective's sidekick Watson.—
Jack Smart,
PEOPLE,
20 May 2026 -
Her detective Lord Peter Wimsey was usually to be found in the upper-class households and clubs that defined a certain strata of English society in the 1920s and 1930s.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 May 2026
Noun
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Upper Darby Police Superintendent Timothy Bernhardt told 6 ABC that investigators believe a group of friends, who included two boys and two girls, were hanging out at the home when the fatal shooting occurred.—
Erin Clack,
PEOPLE,
17 May 2026
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State police later spoke to Vargas’ mother who said their lawyer had advised them not to talk to investigators and would contact police on their behalf, according to the warrant affidavit.—
Justin Muszynski,
Hartford Courant,
17 May 2026
Noun
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That one is set in Metropia, a gigantic city in an alternate future as seen from 1939, where private eye Raymond Gunn is drawn into a case involving aliens, murder and a multimedia star named Venus Nova.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
7 May 2026
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Because this is a Jean-Luc Godard film, only Lemmy Caution (Eddie Constantine), a rumpled American private eye who seems to have stepped straight out of one of the classic Hollywood noirs Godard loved.—
Keith Phipps,
Vulture,
23 Apr. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Hawkshaw.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hawkshaw. Accessed 23 May. 2026.
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