\Lo`co*fo"co\, n. [Of uncertain etymol.; perh. for L.
loco foci instead of fire; or, according to Bartlett, it was
called so from a self-lighting cigar, with a match
composition at the end, invented in 1834 by John Marck of New
York, and called by him locofoco cigar, in imitation of the
word locomotive, which by the uneducated was supposed to
mean, self-moving.]
1. A friction match. [U.S.]
2. A nickname formerly given to a member of the Democratic
   party. [U.S.]
Note: The name was first applied, in 1834, to a portion of
      the Democratic party, because, at a meeting in Tammany
      Hall, New York, in which there was great diversity of
      sentiment, the chairman left his seat, and the lights
      were extinguished, for the purpose of dissolving the
      meeting; when those who were opposed to an adjournment
      produced locofoco matches, rekindled the lights,
      continued the meeting, and accomplished their object.