roscoe

R1O1S1C3O1E1

noun

A handgun, particularly a revolver.

OriginOld Norse rá →
Less commonFirst used 20th c.Scrabble 8
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Meanings

roscoe1

nounroscoe (plural roscoes)

plural roscoes

  1. USslangA handgun, particularly a revolver.First known use 20th c.

    Vincenzo Ricci: Just his normal detail, a few guys with roscoes. None of the other fellas are gonna do dick to protect that piece of shit.

    2020, Hangar 13, “Happy Birthday!”, in Mafia: Definitive Edition
    2 more examples

    Why, it was nothing to travel about the country with fifty grand worth of ice on me. Suppose I hadn’t packed a roscoe—hell, I’d of been hoisted once a week!

    1948, Leslie Charteris, Saint Errant, page 103

    Before Hicks knows it they're out in the far northwest somewhere […], apt around any corner to find yourself up the wrong end of a roscoe from somebody you knew in sixth grade.

    2025, Thomas Pynchon, Shadow Ticket, Jonathan Cape, page 63

Roscoe2

proper noun

alternative Rosco · alternative Roscow

  1. A surname from Old Norse.
  2. A male given name transferred from the surname.
  3. A number of places in the United States, including
  4. A number of places in the United States, including:
    1. A hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Rockland, Sullivan County, New York, named after Senator Roscoe Conkling.

Origin

roscoe · noun

Unknown, apparently from the surname Roscoe; sometimes attested as John Roscoe. Attested from the 1910s.

Full word history & related roots →

Roscoe · proper noun

  1. Old Norserá“roebuck”
  2. EnglishRoscoe

From a place in Lancashire, from Old Norse rá (“roebuck”) + skógr (“forest”).

More words from Old Norse

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with roscoe

Moscow
All rhymes →

Anagrams

croeso
Cite this entry
APA

roscoe. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/roscoe

MLA

“roscoe.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/roscoe. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “roscoe,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/roscoe.

Source: roscoe on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.