˜yÐÄvlog

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View synonyms for

roustabout

[ roust-uh-bout ]

noun

  1. a wharf laborer or deck hand, as on the Mississippi River.
  2. an unskilled laborer who lives by odd jobs.
  3. a circus laborer who helps in setting up and taking down the tents and in caring for the animals, equipment, and grounds.
  4. any unskilled laborer working in an oil field. Compare roughneck ( def 2 ).


roustabout

/ ˈ°ù²¹ÊŠ²õ³Ùəˌ²ú²¹ÊŠ³Ù /

noun

  1. an unskilled labourer on an oil rig
  2. another word for rouseabout
  3. 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
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˜yÐÄvlog History and Origins

Origin of roustabout1

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

Examples have not been reviewed.

It was a roustabout settlement with three stores, a blacksmithy, a boarding house, a half-dozen saloons, gambling hells and dance halls.

From

But the roustabout Hal’s dawning maturity costs him the companion he once held dear.

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I spoke to prison guards who patrolled the wards of violent penitentiaries, undocumented immigrants who toiled on the “kill floors†of industrial slaughterhouses and roustabouts who worked on offshore rigs in the fossil-fuel industry.

From

As a former construction worker, he had the foundation, with some additional training, to begin working as a roustabout, assembling and repairing equipment in the offshore oil industry two years ago.

From

His character is a janitor and general roustabout, angling for a spot in the show.

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