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roustabout
[ roust-uh-bout ]
noun
- a wharf laborer or deck hand, as on the Mississippi River.
- an unskilled laborer who lives by odd jobs.
- a circus laborer who helps in setting up and taking down the tents and in caring for the animals, equipment, and grounds.
- any unskilled laborer working in an oil field. Compare roughneck ( def 2 ).
roustabout
/ ˈraʊstəˌbaʊt /
noun
- an unskilled labourer on an oil rig
- another word for rouseabout
- a labourer in a circus or fairground
Word History and Origins
Origin of roustabout1
Example Sentences
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.
Burris is always yelling about not getting enough overtime work, but you know how it is: he's just a roustabout, a common laborer.
A razor-back, or tent roustabout, struck Johnny on the head with a tent stake.
I was housemaid and roustabout from sunrise to weary sunset.
Then Kearny leaped to his feet and wrung my hand with the strength of a roustabout.
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