A surname from Italian.
Used in a Sentence
columbo
Definitions, parts of speech, synonyms, and sentence examples for columbo.
Editorial note
In some ways, Columbo was a much sicker person than many of the criminals he brought to justice.
Examples15
Definitions3
Parts of speech1
Quick take
A surname from Italian.
Meaning at a glance
The clearest senses and uses of columbo gathered in one view.
Alternative form of calumba. [(medicine, archaic) A bitter root of a plant (Jateorhiza palmata), indigenous to Mozambique, and used as a tonic and antiseptic.]
Obsolete form of Colombo (“Sri Lankan city”). [The commercial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka.]
Definitions
Core meanings and parts of speech for columbo.
noun
A surname from Italian.
See also: american-gentian, pyramid-plant, american-columbo
noun
Alternative form of calumba. [(medicine, archaic) A bitter root of a plant (Jateorhiza palmata), indigenous to Mozambique, and used as a tonic and antiseptic.]
See also: american-gentian, pyramid-plant, american-columbo
noun
Obsolete form of Colombo (“Sri Lankan city”). [The commercial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka.]
See also: american-gentian, pyramid-plant, american-columbo
Example sentences
In some ways, Columbo was a much sicker person than many of the criminals he brought to justice.
Most examples of 'truth-seeking' however, in fiction are portrayed in the reverse: unlike sherlock on who House is based, columbo/poirot/etc.
The thrill for Columbo was in toying with the suspect, fostering FUD, provoking their conscience to eat away at them.
They all get emails telling them to log in and one guy saw the domain (companyname.columbo-companyname.com) and thought it was a Phishing scam.
I remember a very old episode of Columbo where an air capsule system to open wine bottles was used for poisoning...
I don't know Columbo but I just looked up his bio and he seems to be a more conventional type of administrator who spent almost two decades at Columbia.
I'm surprised that the New York Times article doesn't mention it at all because it is one of the best Columbo episodes, with a couldn't-see-it-coming twist in the end.
Also, just like columbo said, the next best answer to dealing with a micro-manager is to bury them in status reports, requests for approval on everything short of putting more paper in the printer, and as many emails every day as you can possibly justify.
Quote examples
I wonder if people would be more inclined to donate if it also broadcasted "columbo gave $2" over "columbo likes this".
As "Columbo" for those who don't get the reference.
For example, I've been reading and studying a lot about sales lately, and I've seen more than one sales book mention "be like Columbo".
I had kinda wanted to rewatch some old Columbo episodes anyway (yeah, I'm old, deal with it) so I've been watching Columbo and thinking about "how do you apply his attitude / approach to this 'diagnostic business development' thing"?
Proper noun examples
For what it's worth, one of the rank top detective series in the US is/was Columbo.
XxHackerPants420xX's tweet of 'Columbo is teh code suxxor' wouldn't bother me as much as pg choosing to write a personal blog post titled 'ode to Columbo's shitty github account'.
Even the follow up questions you have utterly smack of a Columbo-like approach which really only works in movies.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.
How do you use columbo in a sentence?
In some ways, Columbo was a much sicker person than many of the criminals he brought to justice.
What does columbo mean?
A surname from Italian.
What part of speech is columbo?
columbo is commonly used as noun.