1. Members of a radical faction of the Democratic Party in the United States during the 1830s–1840s who advocated for strict limits on government and opposed monopolies.
Usage: historical; plural form; singular is 'locofoco'; chiefly U.S. history
2. A type of self-igniting friction match or cigar lighter popular in the 19th century.
Usage: historical; plural form; singular is 'locofoco'; dated

Examples

• The locofocos opposed the Second Bank of the United States and championed the common worker.
• Locofocos were known for their fiery rhetoric and anti-establishment positions within the Democratic Party.
• The term 'locofoco' originally referred to the self-lighting matches that party members used at rallies.
• Historians credit the locofocos with influencing the development of American populism.
• The locofocos eventually merged back into the mainstream Democratic Party by the 1850s.