shoofly

• Существительное с двумя различными значениями: может обозначать тайного полицейского, который расследует деятельность других полицейских, или детское кресло-качалку с сиденьем между двумя плоскими боковинами, выполненными в форме животного, например лебедя или утки.

A noun with two distinct meanings: it can refer to an undercover police officer who investigates other policemen, or to a child's rocking chair with a seat built between two flat sides shaped to resemble an animal such as a swan or duck.

1. Undercover police investigatorC1informalamerican

   A police officer who works undercover to investigate the conduct of other police officers, often to detect corruption or misconduct.

   Тайный полицейский инспектор

   • The department sent a shoofly to monitor the precinct's activities.
   • He was rumored to be a shoofly, watching for any signs of bribery.
   • The sergeant warned the officers that a shoofly might be among them.

2. Child's rocking chairC1formalamerican

   A type of children's rocking chair where the seat is built between two flat side pieces that are shaped and painted to resemble an animal, such as a swan or a duck.

   Детское кресло-качалка

   • The toddler loved to sit in his wooden shoofly and rock back and forth.
   • Grandma bought a hand-painted shoofly shaped like a duck for the nursery.
   • The antique shoofly was a cherished family heirloom.