/bohl"sheuh vik, bol"-/ ; Russ. /beuhl shi vyeek"/ , n. , pl. Bolsheviks, Bolsheviki /-vik'ee, -vee'kee/ ; Russ. /-vyi kyee"/ .
1. (in Russia)
a. a member of the more radical majority of the Social Democratic party, 1903-17, advocating immediate and forceful seizure of power by the proletariat.
b. (after 1918) a member of the Russian Communist party.
2. (loosely) a member of any Communist party.
3. Derogatory. an extreme political radical; revolutionary or anarchist.
Also, bolshevik .
[ 1915-20; bol'shevík, equiv. to ból'sh ( ii ) larger, greater (comp. of bol'shói large; cf. bol'shinstvó majority) + -evik, var. of -ovik n. suffix; cf. MENSHEVIK ]