jehu

plural jehus

1. colloquialdatedA coachman; a driver; especially, one who drives furiously.

   [T]here was not a sign of a Jehu plying for hire anywhere to be seen except a fourwheeler, probably engaged by some fellows inside on the spree, outside the North Star Hotel […].

   1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 16: Eumaeus]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part III [Nostos], page 569

   1 more example

   Among those who seemed disposed to join in this opinion was the Jehu of the Warwickshire coach, who expressed his conviction to our hero, that "he wos a young gent as had much himproved hisself since he tooled him up to the Warsity with his guvnor."

   1850s, Cuthbert M. Bede, The Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green

1. A king of Israel in the 9th century B.C.

   Now Azaēlos, the king of Syria, made war on the Israelites and their king Jehu, and ravaged the eastern parts of the country across the Jordan […] spreading fire everywhere and plundering everything and inflicting violence on all who fell into his hands.

   1937, Josephus, Ralph Marcus, transl., chapter VIII, in Josephus: With an English Translation (Loeb Classical Library), volume VI (Jewish Antiquities), London: William Heinemann Ltd.; Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, published 1958, →OCLC, book IX, paragraph 1, page 87

2. A male given name from Hebrew.
3. A surname.

plural Jehus

1. alternativeAlternative form of jehu.

   ‘Are you sure, Atherton, that there is no one at the back?’ ‘Of course I’m sure, — you can go and see for yourself if you like; do you think I’m blind? Jehu’s drunk.’ Throwing up the sash he addressed the driver. ‘What do you mean with your old gent at the window? — what window?’

   1897, Richard Marsh, The Beetle