Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An assistant to a chief, especially in a crime syndicate.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An assistant to the boss of a crime family

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an assistant or second-in-command to a chief (especially in a crime syndicate)

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

under- +‎ boss, calque of the Italian sotto capo

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