roustabout

[ roust-uh-bout ]
See synonyms for roustabout on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a wharf laborer or deck hand, as on the Mississippi River.

  2. an unskilled laborer who lives by odd jobs.

  1. a circus laborer who helps in setting up and taking down the tents and in caring for the animals, equipment, and grounds.

  2. any unskilled laborer working in an oil field.: Compare roughneck (def. 2).

Origin of roustabout

1
An Americanism dating back to 1865–70; roust + about

Words Nearby roustabout

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use roustabout in a sentence

  • The state contends he hired Joe Gentz, 50, a local roustabout, to kill his wife of 26 years.

  • Conservatives, notably Rush Limbaugh, leapt on CBS today to complain that late night would now be an overtly left-wing roustabout.

  • More likely to be a stowaway on a merchantman and then roustabout on a cattle boat, or some such thing.

    Cap'n Eri | Joseph Crosby Lincoln
  • Burris is always yelling about not getting enough overtime work, but you know how it is: he's just a roustabout, a common laborer.

    Day of the Moron | Henry Beam Piper
  • A razor-back, or tent roustabout, struck Johnny on the head with a tent stake.

    The Crimson Flash | Roy J. Snell
  • I was housemaid and roustabout from sunrise to weary sunset.

    Hints to Pilgrims | Charles Stephen Brooks
  • Then Kearny leaped to his feet and wrung my hand with the strength of a roustabout.

    Roads of Destiny | O. Henry

British Dictionary definitions for roustabout

roustabout

/ (ˈraʊstəˌbaʊt) /


noun
  1. an unskilled labourer on an oil rig

  2. Australian another word for rouseabout

  1. US and Canadian a labourer in a circus or fairground

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012