Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. A loose alliance of Japanese criminal organizations and illegal enterprises.
- n. A Japanese gangster.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. A Japanese organized crime gang
- n. A member of a Japanese organized crime gang
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. a Japanese gangster
- n. organized crime in Japan; an alliance of criminal organizations and illegal enterprises
Etymologies
Examples
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The word yakuza itself comes from a losing hand in gambling. 893 ya-ku-za.
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They were called yakuza, he knew, “yaks” for short.
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The dark, hedonistic world of the yakuza is the focus, though this story is about the illegal sex trade, a malefic home for unwanted Chinese girls, not a black market for fish.
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Adelstein calls the yakuza "Goldman Sachs with guns" because of the prowess with which their groups' roughly 80,000 members infiltrate companies through extortion and intimidation.
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Keiko Itokazu, an independent legislator, said she was concerned that organized crime, known as the yakuza, would exploit casinos for prostitution and selling drugs.
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It has denied rumors that it sought the aid of Japan's notorious organized crime syndicates, known as the yakuza, to help orchestrate the cover-up.
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In 1997, the chairman of Japan's then largest bank, Dai-Ichi Kangyo, was convicted of lending billions of yen to members of Japanese organized-crime groups, collectively called the yakuza.
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The seats allowed the gangsters, known as yakuza, to be clearly visible during television broadcasts of the bouts, a brazen display that sumo experts said was aimed at cheering up an incarcerated syndicate boss watching from prison.
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The yakuza are the members of traditional organised crime gangs in Japan.
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Japanese gangsters, known as yakuza, once operated from well-marked offices, often with signs out front and symbols of their trade such as lanterns and samurai swords visible through the windows.
hernesheir commented on the word yakuza
The worst hand in the Japanese card game oichokabu is an eight, a nine and a three - literally "ya-ku-za" - the origin of the Japanese word for gangster, yakuza.
December 11, 2010