English

Proper noun

Pinkerton ‎(plural Pinkertons)

1. A Scottish and Northern Irish habitational surname​ for someone from a place of that name near Dunbar.

Noun

Pinkerton ‎(plural Pinkertons)

1. (dated, countable) An operative employed by the Pinkerton National Detective Agency founded by Allan Pinkerton (1819-1884).
   • 1950, "Kiss the Donkey," Time, 4 Sep.,

     He joined the pickets in the bloody Homestead steel strike of 1892, and actually went so far as to jostle a Pinkerton.

Derived terms

• Pinkertonian
• Pinkerton syndrome