sherlock

present singular third person sherlocks · participle present sherlocking · participle past sherlocked · past sherlocked

1. Alternative letter-case form of Sherlock.

plural Sherlocks

1. An English surname transferred from the nickname.
2. A male given name transferred from the surname, of rare usage.
3. humorousA detective, especially used sarcastically to address somebody who has stated the obvious.

   — Where that arrow on the map says 'You are here', that must be where we are. — Yeah, well done Sherlock.

present singular third person Sherlocks · participle present Sherlocking · participle past Sherlocked · past Sherlocked

1. informalTo deduce.

   He wasn't crew, and he wasn't talent. I Sherlocked that from his clothes: […]

   1997, Bharati Mukherjee, Leave It to Me, Fawcett Columbine, published 1997, →ISBN

   2 more examples

   "Anybody could have Sherlocked at a glance," sniffed young Kennilworth, "that it had been packed by a crazy person!"

   1921, Eleanor Hallowell Abbott, Rainy Week, E. P Dutton (1921), page 77

   But almost at once I told myself that I ought to have Sherlocked the truth the moment this troubled, beautiful being had appeared on deck.

   1921, C. N. Williamson, A. M. Williamson, The Brightener, Doubleday, page 274

   Synonyms: figure out, solve

2. informalTo search.

   Mlle. Belge's eyes Sherlocked over her chorus until it matched up those curls.

   1919, Theatre Magazine, volumes 29-30, page 24

   2 more examples

   That afternoon when the boys were in the field Mr. Frickstad sherlocked around in the tents and under the cots looking for a missing rocking-chair.

   1908, The Blue and Gold, volume 35, page 52

   It is reported that Governor McCall will also appoint a committee to investigate the high cost of living, but in the meantime individual investigators have Sherlocked around and their stories would make DeQuincy's Life of an Opium Eater fade into insignificance.

   1917, The National Provisioner, Volume 56, Part 1, page 33

   Synonyms: hunt, seek

3. slangcomputingTo obsolete a unique feature in third-party software by introducing a similar or identical feature to the OS or a first-party program/app.First known use 2002

   The thing software developers fear most is being "sherlocked".

   2012 July 13, “You've been sherlocked”, in The Economist

   2 more examples

   All three developers are in a position common enough that it even has a name in the community. They have been "sherlocked".

   2013 October 28, Alex Hern, “Sherlocked: how Mavericks is making some apps obsolete”, in The Guardian

   Last year, when Apple released iOS 7 it added a feature to the Photo app, allowing users to sort photos on the basis of location and date. Photoworks, a third-party app, too offered same functionality. In response, app developer Stephen Orth tweeted, "I guess my new app just got sherlocked."

   2014 June 3, Javed Anwer, “WhatsApp CEO mocks Apple for copying features”, in The Times of India