thug

• n. 暴徒；恶棍；刺客

来自印度语 thag,小偷，骗子，引申词义罪犯，恶棍。

1. an aggressive and violent young criminal

thug

thug: [19] Hindi thag means literally ‘robber, cheat’ (it is descended from Sanskrit sthaga ‘robber’, a derivative of sthagati ‘cover, hide’, which goes back ultimately to the Indo- European base *steg-, *teg- ‘cover’, source also of English deck, detect, integument, protect, thatch, etc). It came to be applied to members of a band of professional thieves and murderers in India, whose preferred method of dispatching their victims was strangulation (their other name was phansigar, literally ‘strangler’); and English took it over in the 1830s as a general term for a ‘brutally violent person’.
=> deck, detect, protect, thatch

thug (n.)

1810, "member of a gang of murderers and robbers in India who strangled their victims," from Marathi thag, thak "cheat, swindler," Hindi thag, perhaps from Sanskrit sthaga-s "cunning, fraudulent," from sthagayati "(he) covers, conceals," perhaps from PIE root *(s)teg- (2) "to cover" (see stegosaurus).

The thugs roamed about the country in bands of from 10 to 100, usually in the disguise of peddlers or pilgrims, gaining the confidence of other travelers, whom they strangled, when a favorable opportunity presented itself, with a handkerchief, an unwound turban, or a noosed cord. The shedding of blood was seldom resorted to. The motive of the thugs was not so much lust of plunder as a certain religious fanaticism. The bodies of their victims were hidden in graves dug with a consecrated pickax, and of their spoil one third was devoted to the goddess Kali, whom they worshiped. [Century Dictionary]

The more correct Indian name is phanseegur (from phansi "noose"), and the activity was described in English as far back as c. 1665. Rigorously prosecuted by the British from 1831, they were driven from existence by century's end. Transferred sense of "ruffian, cutthroat, violent lowbrow" is from 1839.

a gang of thugs

一伙暴徒

牛津词典

thuggish brutality

残忍的暴行

牛津词典

...the cowardly thugs who mug old people.

抢劫老人的胆小恶棍

柯林斯高阶英语词典

Many a highly placed thug, it is hoped , is beginning to sleep less easily at night.

我们期望那些威胁度过高的嫌疑暴徒在晚上休息时不再过于安心.

期刊摘选

Thug Livin out a prison, pistols in the air, ( hahaha ).

我是生活在监狱外的暴徒, 拿着手枪对着天空.

期刊摘选

Sometimes he appeared like a mother's boy, at other times a thug.

他有时看上去像个妈妈的宝宝, 有时又像个歹徒.

期刊摘选

Bree: Are you insane? Your thug tried to strangle him.

布雷: 你疯了? 你的暴徒试图扼杀他.

期刊摘选

The thug gave him a punch in the chest.

暴徒对着他的胸部打了一拳.

辞典例句

So , what makes you any different from any other high school thug?

你和高中里的其它恶霸有什么区别?

电影对白

The thug grasped the management rights by illegal means.

歹徒通过不法手段掌握管理权.

期刊摘选

I'm still the thug you love to hate.

我仍然是那个你喜欢恨的暴徒.

期刊摘选

The thug grappled him around the neck.

那个歹徒抓住了他的脖子.

《现代英汉综合大词典》

Jansen, drunk thug outside Bradbury Bldg.

扬森, 喝醉了暴徒以外的白普理大厦.

期刊摘选

Get out, or I'll call the police , you thug.

出去, 不然我报警.

期刊摘选

He doesn't come across as the thug he's perceived to be.

他不像人们感觉的那样是个暴徒.

期刊摘选

A strong man hired as a bodyguard or thug.

雇来作为保镖或者打手的强壮的人.

期刊摘选

The poor man received a savage beating from the thug.

那可怜的人被暴徒们毒打了一顿.

期刊摘选

The Professor: Amy is with the head thug.

老夫子: 阿美在贼头子那.

期刊摘选

She couldn't help screaming at the sight of that thug.

她一看到那个凶手,就忍不住尖叫起来.

期刊摘选

You still the same guy that got Thug Life tatted on his arm?

你还是那个会把「盗道」刺在自己手臂上的家伙 吗 ?

电影对白

He edged away from the thug.

他悄悄地躲开了那个暴徒.

《简明英汉词典》

Thug 2 : Whoever among you has the nerve follow us to meet the boss!

贼 2: 你们谁有胆量都跟我们去见首领去!

期刊摘选

It gave me heart to see one thug get what he deserves.

看到一个恶棍罪有应得真是大快我心。

柯林斯例句