gangster orig. U.S.
(ˈgæŋstə(r))
[f. gang n.1 + -ster.]
1. A member of a gang of criminals. Also attrib. and Comb.
| 1896 Columbus (Ohio) Even. Dispatch 10 Apr. 4/2 The gangster may play all sorts of pranks with the ballot box, but in its own good time the latter will get even by kicking the gangster into the gutter. 1911 N.Y. Even. Post 17 June 6 A musician, returning to his home, was knocked down and killed by a group of gangsters. 1928 Daily Express 31 July 8/2 Finding the three Brighton gangsters guilty of murder. 1935 Wodehouse Blandings Castle x. 253 Kind of tough and ugly he looks, like something out of a gangster film. 1938 F. D. Sharpe Sharpe of Flying Squad xv. 164 London at that time was in some danger of becoming a gangster-ridden city like Chicago. 1948 F. R. Leavis Great Tradition i. 4 One applauds the determination to explode the gangster-hero. |
2. A member of a gang of workmen. rare.
| 1927 Daily Express 20 June 1/5 Gangsters followed with new ballast and new track. |
Hence ˈgangsterdom = gangland; ˈgangsterish a., resembling or characteristic of a gangster or gangsters; ˈgangsterism, the actions or methods of gangsters.
| 1923 Nation 26 Dec. 743/1 The autobiography of one who has come up in the world from sneak-thiefery and gangsterdom. 1927 New Masses Mar. 19/4 Gangsterism reigned supreme, both in and out of the convention hall. 1932 New Statesman 7 May 581/1 The alternative is a steady growth of gangsterdom. 1934 Times 31 July 10/2 Political ‘gangsterism’..is only an extreme manifestation of the temper which is being allowed to dominate the whole political outlook. 1945 G. Millar Maquis viii. 165 The Resistance in the Haute-Saône followed more gangsterish lines than that of..the Doubs. 1947 Penguin New Writing XXXI. 68 He walked with a manly, indifferent saunter, eyes half-closed in gangsterish confidence. 1958 Times Lit. Suppl. 31 Jan. 67/2 More tales of American night-life and gangsterdom between the wars. 1962 Daily Tel. 19 Mar. 13/4 The economic gangsterism of capitalism. |
______________________________
▸ gangster rap n. = gangsta rap n. at gangsta n. and adj. Compounds.
| 1989 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 24 Mar. a4/3 Ice T, who helped popularize the L.A. *gangster rap image, was the evening's headliner, but N.W.A. was the more galvanizing force. 1994 P. Theroux Translating LA ii. 43 Middle-class drug use is clandestine, but gangster-rap music, which is a Hispanic but mostly black genre, glorifies both drugs and the associated gang violence. 1998 G. Linehan & A. Matthews Are you Right there, Father Ted? (penultimate draft) in Father Ted (1999) 263/1 No, I am sorry, but there is nothing in gangster rap that appeals to me. It's just noise. Now maybe some of the West-Coast rappers, some of the lighter stuff like DJ Jazzy Jeff. |
______________________________
▸ gangster rapper n. = gangsta rapper n. at gangsta n. and adj. Compounds.
| 1990 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 3 June 56 The pioneer *gangster rapper..attempts to enliven his audience by shouting, ‘All the people with AIDS keep quiiii-et.’ 1995 Source Feb. 46/2 Every gangster rapper that's spittin' game out there sayin' somethin' that ain't nobody heard before is America's nightmare. 2001 Scotsman (Electronic ed.) 1 Feb. Their brand of extreme, in-your-face work educated an entire generation of heavy metal fans and gangster rappers. |