Locofoco
[ loh-koh-foh-koh ]
/ ˌloʊ koʊˈfoʊ koʊ /
noun
(sometimes lowercase)
a member of the radical faction of the New York City Democrats, organized in 1835 to oppose the conservative members of the party.
(lowercase)
a friction match or cigar developed in the 19th century, ignited by rubbing against any hard, dry surface.
Origin of Locofoco
special use of
locofoco (cigar), self-lighting, rhyming compound apparently based on
loco(motive), taken to mean self-moving;
-foco, alteration of Italian
fuoco fire < Latin
focus fireplace
Example sentences from the Web for locofoco
But now, should you go thither to seek him, you would inquire in vain for the Locofoco Surveyor.
The Scarlet Letter |Nathaniel HawthorneYou would find a Locofoco majority as much addicted to Class Legislation as a factitious aristocracy.
Coningsby |Benjamin DisraeliFour or five years afterward their enemies invented for their benefit the meaningless and hideous word "Locofoco."
The Life Of Abraham Lincoln |Ward H. LamonA Locofoco is the only intelligible term: a fellow that would set any place on fire to roast his own eggs.
Gryll Grange |Thomas Love Peacock