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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While genre fiction steadily advances onto bestseller lists, realism soldiers on, amid cyborgs and dragons and boozy detectives.—
Hamilton Cain,
Los Angeles Times,
2 June 2025 -
Last week, prosecutors called their final witness, the Chicago police detective who was the lead investigator in the case.—
Madeline Buckley,
Chicago Tribune,
2 June 2025
Noun
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Though Watkins had first been ruled out as a suspect in the killing of 20-year-old Isaac Dawkins, who was shot in the head while driving on a highway in Rome in 2000, he was pursued by Floyd County police and investigators with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, according to his complaint.—
Julia Marnin,
Miami Herald,
5 June 2025
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Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office investigators are working to determine how the child ended up in the water, according to the statement.—
Lillie Davidson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
5 June 2025
Noun
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The dark comedy reaches its Season 1 conclusion Friday on NBC and it’s poised to bring a new set of twists and cliffhangers as the group tries to evade law enforcement and a private eye plotting blackmail.—
Robert Lloyd,
Los Angeles Times,
16 May 2025
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Levitt stars in Killer Heat as Nick Bali, a private eye who travels to the Greek island of Crete to investigate the death of shipping magnate Leo Vardakis (Richard Madden), who plunged to his death during a free solo rock climb.—
Tim Lammers,
Forbes,
26 Sep. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Hawkshaw.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hawkshaw. Accessed 11 Jun. 2025.
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