cumshaw

n.
A tip; a gratuity.

[Pidgin English, from Chinese (Amoy) gamsia, an expression of thanks.]

(KUM-shaw)

noun
A gift or a tip.

Etymology
From Chinese (Amoy/Xiamen dialect), literally, grateful thanks.

Usage
"An additional bit of cumshaw came on foreign press trips, in the old days at least, when the travel office people enabled the returning correspondents to bypass customs formalities." — Richard Dudman, Connections, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jun 15, 1997.

"Prisoners didn't make demands and politicians held their cumshaw down to peanuts but still found themselves out on their keesters if they were caught." — Burton Z. Chertok Carlisle, Slide in Behavior, The Patriot - News (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania), Feb 12, 2001.

---

noun

A material favor or gift, usually money, given in return for service: gratuity, largess, perquisite, tip. See give/take/reciprocity, transactions.

A present or gratuity, often a piece of needed equipment that appears when needed (while at the same time a similar item disappears from another unit). A cumshaw artist is generally prized within a unit for his or her ability to provide-and few questions are asked. From the old Chinese term "kam sia" meaning grateful thanks. The term was used at the start of World War II to describe payoffs by Honolulu's Hotel Street prostitutes to local police officials.