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plural Pinkertons
A habitational surname from Old English. examples
(dated, countable) An operative employed by the Pinkerton National Detective Agency founded by Allan Pinkerton (1819–1884). quotations examples
My heart wells up in admiration of the man, as I think of his participation in the memorable struggle of Homestead. He fought the Pinkertons, the myrmidons of Capital.
1912, Alexander Berkman, chapter 6, in Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist
He joined the pickets in the bloody Homestead steel strike of 1892, and actually went so far as to jostle a Pinkerton.
1950 September 4, “Kiss the Donkey”, in Time