Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a cardsharp, a confidence trickster [‘pouncing upon [their victims] mercilessly’ (Bee)].

c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Hawk c. a Sharper.
1725		New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
c.1750–1882		B.M. Carew Life and Adventures.
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1809		G. Andrewes Dict. Sl. and Cant.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1822		D. Carey Life in Paris 45: Who could have imagined that you stood in need of being put upon your guard against hawks and sharpers?
1823		‘Jon Bee’ Dict. of the Turf, the Ring, the Chase, etc. 94: Hawks—gamblers, who are particularly destructive of their victims; pouncing upon them mercilessly, or following them from afar.
1835		G. Kent Modern Flash Dict.
1848		Flash Dict. in Sinks of London Laid Open.
c.1850		Duncombe New and Improved Flash Dict.
1851		Sydney Morn. Herald 12 May 3/4: ‘[H]ell-keepers’ [...] proprietors of establishments where the vicious and the unwary, the greedy hawk and the silly pigeon, congregate, the one to plunder and the other to be plucked.
1859		G.A. Sala Gaslight and Daylight 99: There are gentlemen who [...] are as plainly and clearly dupes as though they carried pigeon inscribed in legible characters on their hat-bands; and gentlemen in nose, whisker, and pervading appearance as unmistakeably hawks.
1887		Daily Tel. 17 June in Ware (1909) 151/1: The station-sergeant on duty, not knowing the detective, supposed him to be the accused. ‘But I am the officer in the case.’ It was not until the real captive intervened with an explanation that hawk and pigeon were sorted out properly for the occasion.
1890		H. Nisbet ‘Bail Up!’ 210: Fast hawks and foolish young pigeons.
1891		N.Y. Herald (London edn) 31 May n.p.: These were hawks and pigeons, and those who are no longer pigeons, and never had, or will have, an inclination to be hawks [F&H].
1899		‘Pot’ & ‘Swears’ Scarlet City 382: The men round the roulette table were of the usual kind, one-third hawks, and one-third pigeons.

2. a bailiff, a constable, a police officer; thus excl. ware hawk, a cry of warning.

1785		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1831		N.Y. Gazette and General Advertiser 10 Feb. 2/1: One of the party [...] cried ‘Hawks,’ and the pigeons and pluckers dispersed.
1834		(con. 1737–9) W.H. Ainsworth Rookwood (1857) 19: The hawks are upon us, and we must leave.
1845		Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 11 Oct. 58/1: ‘The hawks will puzzle themselves not a little’.
1895		‘Banjo’ Paterson ‘How Gilbert Died’ in Man from Snowy River (1902) 131: He says to his mate, ‘There are hawks abroad, / And it’s time that we went away.’.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).

3. (Irish) any person; often as queer hawk under queer adj.

1961		(con. 1890–1910) ‘Flann O’Brien’ Hard Life (1962) 85: It is true that the Jesuits were everywhere and had a finger in every pie. They were cute hawks.
1966		P. Boyle At Night All Cats Are Grey 63: A cute hawk if ever there was one.

4. see nighthawk n. (3)

5. (US black, also hawkins) chilly winter winds, esp. as experienced in northern cities; usu. as the hawk [abbr. Hawkins n.³ , underpinned by image of a ‘predatory’ wind].

1946		Mezzrow & Wolfe Really the Blues 217: Jim why don’t you let up sometime, hawk’s out here with his axe.
1968		‘Hy Lit’ Hy Lit’s Unbelievable Dict. of Hip Words 49: hawk stretch – A very windy day; the wind cuts right through your clothes.
1970		G. Scott-Heron Vulture (1996) 45: I was already preparing myself to deal with the Hawk. My gloves were on, and the scarf was around my neck.
1971		H.E. Roberts Third Ear n.p.: hawk n. cold wind.
1974		V.E. Smith Jones Men 163: Standin’ out here in the dead of winter with the hawk rippin’ up my ass.
1977		(con. 1969) M. Herr Dispatches 129: ‘The hawk is out, an’ he’s in here bare-ass.’ ‘What’s that? About the hawk?’ ‘That means it’s a co-o-old Mother Fucker.’.
1982		Eble Campus Sl. Spring 4: hawk – winds.
1983		N. Heard House of Slammers 2: The North Hawk laid a chill to the moisture which lingered in the air.
1993		L. Rodríguez Always Running (1996) 3: For months, the bone-chilling ‘hawk’ swooped down and forced everyone [...] to squeeze into a one-and-a-half bedroom apartment.
1997		Simon & Burns Corner (1998) 9: ‘Cold,’ says Gary. ‘Oh yeah,’ agrees Tony. ‘Motherfuckin’ hawk is out.’.
2015		P. Beatty Sellout (2016) 113: Chicago has the Hawk [...] and Dickens [...] has the Stank.

6. (US prison) one who looks out for the arrival of authorities, e.g. a prison inmate, a carnival worker.

1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 92/1: Hawk, n. (Carnival) A specialist in spotting officers of the law. [It is the hawk’s duty to warn the stick when there is fuzz present, usually by calling out some such phrase as, ‘Hello, Captain,’ ‘Hey, Joe Fuzzy,’ or the like.].
2000		Other Side of the Wall: Prisoner’s Dict. July 🌐 Hawk: Inmate who watches or stands guard to notify another inmate when staff is approaching. (NC).

7. (US campus) an unattractive woman.

1967–8

Baker et al. CUSS.

8. (US campus) a very hard worker.

1966

Current Sl. I:3 4/2: Hawk, n. One who studies regularly.

9. (US) a person, esp. in public office, government or business, who advocates an aggressive policy.

[1834		‘Jack Downing’ Andrew Jackson 232: Gineral, every one hates a hawk, ’cause its alwase for fitin].
1976		N. Thornburg Cutter and Bone (2001) 287: And there was Vietnam too, we can’t forget that, can we? A mighty hawk was old J.J.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 188: hawk. One who believes that international differences are best settled through the display or use of military strength, as distinguished from a dove.
2000		M. Amis Experience 167: I was no longer a hawk by the time he started recommending the involvement of British troops.

10. (S.Afr.) a ‘masculine’ male homosexual.

1973		(con. mid-1960s) J. Patrick Glasgow Gang Observed 51: To avoid being considered ‘a queer hawk’ or a ‘bent-shot’ (homosexual), I had to chip in to the conversation. [Ibid.] 235: Queer-hawk – [...] sometimes used to describe a homosexual.
1980		(con. 1971) W. Sherman Times Square 101: Negotiations between chicken and hawk were quick and when settled, the pair would walk off together.
2003		K. Cage Gayle 74/2: hawk n. older man who preys sexually on young, usually underage boys.

11. (US gay) a lesbian who picks women up in the street.

1972

B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 71: lesbian who makes pickups in the street, a not too common practice. [...] hawk.

12. (S.Afr./US) an older male homosexual with a preference for young boys.

1974		H. Levin Bandiet 154: Central [prison] society was clearly divided into two categories: ‘hawks’ and hasies/rabbits. The hawks were the sexual predators: hasies were their partners.
2005		A. Lovejoy Acid Alex 211: The hawks will come to you and offer a cigarette, a cup of tea, a biscuit – maybe even a joint! Everything you accept from a hawk is a transaction.

13. (US) a robber or mugger.

1971

S. Stevens Way Uptown 95: Then one night some hawks tried to steal my shoes in an alley on 115th Street.