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

Dictionary.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. Harney
  • Everybody paused to listen, even the tired and tugging roustabouts smiling at the unwonted music.

    The Boy Settlers | Noah Brooks
  • Not that there was any lack of roustabouts in town, but that, money being plentiful, they would not work.

    American Adventures | Julian Street
  • Hidden by these shadows was a little group of onlookers—a cook from the lodge, two roustabouts, a sailor or two.

    Third Warning | Roy J. Snell
  • They 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

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