Chicago overcoat

English

Pronunciation

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Noun

Chicago overcoat (plural Chicago overcoats)

1. (US, slang) Synonym of concrete overcoat or synonym of cement shoes.
2. (US, slang, by extension) A coffin.
3. (figuratively, by extension) death; being killed or murdered.
   • 1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin, published 2011, page 189:

     ‘Go ahead and blast and see what it gets you.’
     ‘A Chicago overcoat is what it would get you, little man.’

Related terms

• Chicago lightning (“gunfire”), Chicago typewriter (“tommy gun”)

Further reading

• “Chicago overcoat n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present