Sam Spade

English Proper noun The fictional private detective created by Dashiell Hammett who was protagonist of The Maltese Falcon. Noun Sam Spade en informal A private detective. en Flight Edmund Fuller 1970 98 Congratulations on the detective work — a real Sam Spade job. en Psst... Wanna Find Some Snow Ski 1977 October "To do a real Sam Spade, phone a bar near the resort. The ski bum who answers the phone will tell it as he sees it en 2006 Betsy Burton The King's English: Adventures of an Independent Bookseller 64 First we tried to hire a private detective . Next we tried amateurs, two college students out to make their fortune as modern-day Sam Spades. They had obviously watched too much noir TV en Spoilt for Choice Steve Wilson 2018 8 I reckon like I'm some kind of Sam Spade here. I've put to one side the main plot and concentrated instead on the key character, following him to get some idea of his comings and goings