roustabout
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).
Origin of roustabout
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use roustabout in a sentence
The general public never contacts the real circus people, just the ticket takers, ushers, and roustabouts.
David Lannarck, Midget | George S. HarneyEverybody paused to listen, even the tired and tugging roustabouts smiling at the unwonted music.
The Boy Settlers | Noah BrooksNot that there was any lack of roustabouts in town, but that, money being plentiful, they would not work.
American Adventures | Julian StreetHidden by these shadows was a little group of onlookers—a cook from the lodge, two roustabouts, a sailor or two.
Third Warning | Roy J. SnellThey used to kick the roustabouts about and run them around but they never laid the weight of their hands on him.
Slave Narratives: Arkansas Narratives | Work Projects Administration
British Dictionary definitions for roustabout
/ (ˈraʊstəˌbaʊt) /
an unskilled labourer on an oil rig
Australian another word for rouseabout
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
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