Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a fool, a newcomer.

1919		Blackhawk Howitzer 50: Whose —— legs are these? Gettem off my chest, you squareheaded lugan [HDAS].
1927		F.M. Thrasher Gang 267: Loogins, yannigens — newcomers, second team, bumpkins.
1931		D. Runyon ‘Romance in the Roaring Forties’ in Runyon on Broadway (1954) 40: The poor loogan she is marrying will never have enough dough to buy her such a rock.
1932		(con. 1910s) J.T. Farrell Young Lonigan in Studs Lonigan (1936) 31: The loogin’s rotting away with TB.
1938		R.L. Bellem ‘Grappling Trilby’ in Popular Sports June 🌐 ‘Who’s wrestling us?’ I ask. ‘Oh, some New York loogan. He’s not too good.’.
1949		J.T. Farrell ‘Slouch’ in Amer. Dream Girl (1950) 102: One of ’em was some loogin who had a wife, but the wife’s gone away.
1962		Ragen & Finston World’s Toughest Prison 807: loogin – A newcomer to a gang.
2024		J. Meades Empty Wigs (t/s) 176: These townie loogans were comprehensively chiselled at market. They were dupes.

2. a petty crook or ruffian.

1931		‘Und. “Lingo” Brought Up-to-Date’ L.A. Times 8 Nov. K3: LOOGAN: A minor hoodlum; a satelite; a helper.
1939		R. Chandler Big Sleep 144: ‘What’s a loogan?’ ‘A guy with a gun [...] But strictly speaking a loogan is on the wrong side of the fence.’.
1947		F. Brown Fabulous Clipjoint (1949) 188: The craziest things can happen in it [...] Like you bluffing down Kaufman’s loogans.

3. a gun man.

1989

J. Morton Lowspeak.