drygulch

See also: dry-gulch

English

WOTD – 9 September 2010

"Take care not to be drygulched after the bend, stranger..."

Alternative forms

• dry gulch
• dry-gulch

Etymology

Because in the American West, outlaws often killed people as they passed through a dry gulch; or because cattle rustlers drove stolen animals off the edge of such a gulch. (ref. John Ayto 1998)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɹʌɪɡʌltʃ/
• IPA^(key): /ˈdɹaɪ.ɡʌltʃ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Verb

1. (US, slang) To murder; to attack, assault, especially in an ambush.
   • 1940, Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely, Penguin 2010, p. 77:

     ‘Then one of them got into the car and dry-gulched me.’

   • 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage 2007, p. 722-3:

     You've delivered yourselves into the hands of capitalists and Christers, and anybody wants to change any of that steps across ’at frontera, they're drygulched on the spot—though I'm sure you'd know how to avoid that, Dwayne.

Derived terms

• drygulcher

Translations

slang: to murder, attack, assault, ambush

• French: sécher (fr), descendre (fr), zigouiller (fr), estourbir (fr), couiquer (fr), flinguer (fr)
• German: abmurksen (de), überfallen (de)
• Italian: far fuori
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: нападать (ru) (napadatʹ)
• Spanish: apiolar (es), cargarse (es)