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private eye

 - 6 dictionary results

private eye

–noun Slang.
a private detective.

Origin:
1935–40; eye, allusive phonetic rendering of I, abbr. of investigator
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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private eye  
n.  See private investigator.
private investigator  
n.   Abbr. PI
A person privately hired to do investigative or detective work. Also called private detective, private eye.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
private eye

  1. n.
    a detective who is licensed to work privately rather than for a police department. : I worked for a while as a private eye.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: private eye
Function: noun
: PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Idioms & Phrases

private eye

A privately employed detective, as opposed to one working for the police or another authority. For example, The children loved stories about private eyes, and Janey wanted to become one. This expression comes from the term private investigator, the "i" of investigator being changed to "eye," which plays on the idea of a person looking into things. [1930s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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