boodle

English

Etymology

From Dutch boedel. Doublet of bottle.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbuːdəl/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːdəl

Noun

boodle (countable and uncountable, plural boodles)

1. (slang) Money, especially when acquired or spent illegally or improperly; swag.
   • around 1900, O. Henry, According to Their Lights

     He was your 'man higher up' when you were on the force. His share of the boodle passed through your hands. You must go on the stand and testify against him.

   • 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses:

     […] marauders ready to decamp with whatever boodle they could in one fell swoop at a moment’s notice, your money or your life, leaving you there to point a moral, gagged and garotted.

2. (US, dialect) The whole collection or lot; caboodle.
   • January 4 1833, Jack Downing, letter to Ephraim Downing‎^[1]:

     He pulled off his coat and threw it down, and declared he'd fight the whole boodle of 'em

3. (US, slang, West Point) Candy and snacks.
   • 1986, The Parent's Guidebook to West Point, page 62:

     Send the first boodle in an airtight container so that there is a place for the storage of future packages […] Suggestions for Boodle: cookies, candy, individual packets of drink mixes (sugar-free), raisins, nuts, gum.

Synonyms

• (money): See Thesaurus:money
• (illegally acquired money): dirty money, black money See Thesaurus:booty
• (whole collection): kit and caboodle

Derived terms

• boodle fight

 

Translations

Money, especially when acquired or spent illegally or improperly; swag

• Bulgarian: плячка (bg) f (pljačka), нещо крадено (nešto kradeno)
• Italian: bottino (it) m, refurtiva (it) f
• Russian: ворованные деньги

Verb

boodle (third-person singular simple present boodles, present participle boodling, simple past and past participle boodled)

1. (slang) To engage in bribery.

Anagrams

• bloode, boledo, boloed