shylock
Syllables: shy·lockUK/ˈʃaɪlɒk/US/ˈʃaɪlɑk/
shylock noun: a loan shark; a usurer.
Noun (1)
shylock (plural shylocks)
- A loan shark; a usurer.
- 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.2005, Joe Pistone, The Way of the Wiseguy, page 45
- 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.2009, G. T. Harrell, For Members Only: The Story of the Mob's Secret Judge, A True Story, page 229
- A person of Jewish descent.
Verb
shylock (third-person singular simple present shylocks, present participle shylocking, simple past and past participle shylocked)
- To lend money at exorbitant rates of interest.
- I wanted to know whether shylocking is a legal business or not, and if it is legal, under which Act does it operate?2004 December 8, Kenya National Assembly Official Record (Hansard), page 4928
- 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, Tom Layne, The Assassination of Rush Limbaugh, page 151
Proper noun capitalized: Shylock
Shylock
- A moneylender (Jewish stereotype) in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice.
Noun (2) capitalized: Shylock
Shylock (plural Shylocks)
- Alternative letter-case form of shylock.
Examples of shylock in a sentence
- 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.2013, James Lee Burke, Light of the World, page 429:
- 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.2005, Jeannette Walls, The Glass Castle, published 2010:
- 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?2011, John Nicholas Iannuzzi, Handbook of Cross Examination: The Mosaic Art, 3rd edition, page 312:
Synonyms of shylock
Forms of shylock
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | shylocks |
| alternative form | Shylock |
| plural | Shylocks |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | shylocks |
| present participle | shylocking |
| past participle | shylocked |
| past | shylocked |
Origin of shylock
From the character Shylock in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (1600).
Possibly derived from Hebrew שלח (Šélaḥ, the grandson of Shem), or Old Saxon skīr-lokk (“white-haired”), referring to goldsmiths and scriveners. It may also be derived from Michael Lok and an archaic meaning of shy (“untrustworthy”).
Words formed from shylock
- Shylockian
- Shylockism
Questions about shylock
- What does shylock mean?
- Shylock means a loan shark; a usurer.
- How do you use shylock in a sentence?
- 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.
- What part of speech is shylock?
- Shylock can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce shylock?
- Shylock is pronounced /ˈʃaɪlɑk/ (US).
- What is the plural of shylock?
- The plural of shylock is shylocks.
Words near shylock in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: shylock (page history and authors); Shylock (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-shylock.ogg.
Cite this entry: “shylock.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/shylock. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.