jackeroo

American  

[jak-uh-roo] / ˌdʒæk əˈru /

Or jackaroo

noun

plural

jackeroos

1. an inexperienced person working as an apprentice on a sheep ranch.

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verb (used without object)

jackerooed, jackerooing

1. to work as an apprentice on a sheep ranch.

jackeroo British  

/ ˌdʒækəˈruː /

noun

1. informal a young male management trainee on a sheep or cattle station

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Etymology

Origin of jackeroo

1875–80; jack ¹ + (kang)aroo; cf. -eroo

Example Sentences

In 1964, he signed up as a ranch hand, known as a jackeroo, after embellishing his abilities on horseback, and was sent to the Kimberley, a vast region in northwestern Australia.

From Washington Post • Apr. 12, 2023

The trek doesn’t go quite as planned, and Lola takes a job as a jackeroo — the term is explained — at the winery’s nearby sheep farm.

From New York Times • May 18, 2022

But she "drew"; she was handsome where women are scarce—very handsome, thought a tall, melancholy-looking jackeroo, whose evil spirit had drawn him to Stiffner's and the last shilling out of his pocket.

From Over the Sliprails by Lawson, Henry

It was with difficulty he could hold his tongue until the jackeroo had turned his horse adrift and betaken himself to the bachelors' hut euphemistically yclept "the barracks."

From The Shadow of a Man by Hornung, E. W. (Ernest William)

Moya and the jackeroo were ambling leisurely behind, and nothing could have been more natural than Moya's questions.

From The Shadow of a Man by Hornung, E. W. (Ernest William)