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hooligan

noun

  1. participant in violence in connection with sport events
L322026 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈhuː.lɪ.ɡən/

noun

Etymology: Borrowed from Chinook Jargon ulakan, from Clatsop Chinook, with spelling and pronunciation influenced by the preceding.

  1. A type of fish, an anadromous smelt, Thaleichthys pacificus, found in the North Pacific.

    One year there was a strong wind. We couldn’t catch herring, but they were there. We caught lots of hooligans (smelt) and got through the year on those.

    Haines and Klukwan hooligan harvesters reported that they exchanged hooligan products primarily for other food items, especially those unavailable in the Chilkat and Chilkoot area or those which were inaccessible to the harvester for various reasons. Respondents reported that virtually any wild food might be obtained for hooligan oil.

verb

Etymology: Probably a variant of the Irish surname Houlihan, 1890s.

  1. To act as a hooligan (etymology 1, noun sense 1).
  2. To treat (a person) roughly.