cinder dick

[sin-der dik]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

Slang: Older Use.

a railroad police detective.
I knew that cinder dick was tailing me, so I ducked between two trains and hopped on the next freight car leaving the yard.

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First recorded in 1920–25; so called from cinders of coal-burning locomotives + dick ( def. ) (in the sense “detective”)

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