private dick noun a private detective US,1912 Conventional use of “private” combined with DICK
“You’ve been followed by a private dick I hired ever since last Wednesday night[.]” — David Gregory, FleshSeller, pp. 115–6, 1962
The police are keeping a blanket on it, but you being a private dick would have your own sources, wouldn’t you? — Malcolm Pryce, AberystwythMonAmour, p. 37, 2001