Ascension Killing—A hit/whack/murder undertaken in order to secure a promotion (for example, in order to get made).

Canary—see sing.

Consigliere—The trusted advisor of a mob boss.

Contract—An assignment to kill someone.

Cosa Nostra, La—"This thing of ours"; the Italian mob.

Earner—A member of the mob known for the ability to bring in lots of money through various illegal schemes.

Getting Made—Being chosen as a lifetime member of La Cosa Nostra.

Heist—A complex theft; a scheme requiring many people and in-advance planning.

Hitman—A gangster who specializes in assigned contracts/whackings.

Hitting the Mattresses—In preparation for a gang war, holing up in safe houses, sleeping on mattresses.

Mob—xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Moll—A gangster's mistress.

Omertá—The honor code followed by Lo Cosa Nostra, including, most prominently, the code of silence: the unbreakable commitment to not sing to the police.

Sing—To become an informant/witness for the police, thus violating omerta.

Sit-Downs—A requested arbitration of differences between two or more gangsters with a mob boss.

Speakeasy—During Prohibition, an illegal saloon selling alcohol.

Tommy Gun—A Thompson machine gun; archetypal prohibition-era weapon (Leo O'Bannon shows himself to be an "artist" with one in Miller's Crossing).

Whack—To kill someone.