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rough-neck

 - 3 dictionary results

rough⋅neck

[ruhf-nek]
–noun
1. a rough, coarse person; a tough.
2. any laborer working on an oil-drilling rig. Compare roustabout (def. 4).
–verb (used without object)
3. to work as a roughneck.

Origin:
1830–40, Americanism; rough + neck
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Slang Dictionary
roughhouse

and roughneck
  1. n.
    a mean kid; a boisterous child, usually male. : Jimmy! Stop acting like such a roughhouse.
  2. in.
    to be boisterous. : The boys broke the lamp when they were roughnecking around in the family room.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

rough-neck 
1836, "rugged individual," from rough (adj.) + neck. Original context is the Texas frontier, later adpoted to labor organization toughs. Specific sense of "oil rig worker" is recorded from 1917.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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