shylock

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See also: Shylock

English

WOTD – 24 May 2012

Etymology

From the character Shylock in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (1600).

Pronunciation

Noun

shylock (plural shylocks)

  1. (US) A loan shark; a usurer.
    • 2005, Joe Pistone, The Way of the Wiseguy‎, page 45:
      Eventually, their gambling debts grow so big that they are cut off from making any more bets, eliminating the chance that they can make enough money to satisfy their shylocks.
    • 2009, G. T. Harrell, For Members Only: The Story of the Mob's Secret Judge, A True Story‎, page 229:
      If a guy got into hock with several shylocks from different crews and was unable to keep up with his weekly payments, a sit-down would have to be called with all of the shylocks involved and their respective capos.
    • 2013, James Lee Burke, Light of the World‎, page 429:
      After Caspian's father killed his credit lines at all the big casinos, he ran up a six-figure tab with a couple of shylocks in Miami, then couldn't make the vig.
  2. (offensive, ethnic slur) A person of Jewish descent.
    Synonyms: (not always pejorative) Yid, heeb, Hymie, kike, sheeny

Translations

Verb

shylock (third-person singular simple present shylocks, present participle shylocking, simple past and past participle shylocked)

  1. (intransitive, US) To lend money at exorbitant rates of interest.
    • 2004 December 8, Kenya National Assembly Official Record (Hansard), page 4928:
      I wanted to know whether shylocking is a legal business or not, and if it is legal, under which Act does it operate?
    • 2005, Tom Layne, The Assassination of Rush Limbaugh, page 151:
      When you've accumulated a good stash of money, you may want to go into the nightclub business, or shylocking. Shylocking is free. There is no ten percent vig on loan sharking.
    • 2005, Jeannette Walls, The Glass Castle‎, published 2010:
      Lori said it sounded outright felonious, but Dad said all he was doing was outsmarting the fat-cat bank owners who shylocked the common man by charging usurious interest rates.
    • 2011, John Nicholas Iannuzzi, Handbook of Cross Examination: The Mosaic Art‎, 3rd edition, page 312:
      Do you recall this question having been put to you—the shylocking business you were involved in continued right up until the time that you were arrested, correct?

Translations

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