Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

roustabout

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.68 in modern English

Syllables: roustabout
IPA

12

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

1

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

An unskilled laborer, especially at an oilfield, at a circus or on a ship.

American usage

verb

To work as a roustabout.

Intransitive verb

Example Sentences

"The U. is my own Alma Mater, and I am proud to be known as an alumni, but there are certain instructors there who seem to think we ought to turn the conduct of the nation over to hoboes and roustabouts."
"Then Sísiphos in torment I beheld / being roustabout to a tremendous boulder."
"Brooklyn Tony, who had run away from home to be a circus roustabout, became a poster artist and eventually an Abstract Expressionist."
"She works in McGregor, North Dakota as a roustabout pusher. That means she and her crew help fix and maintain the drilling sites."
"See also quotations under rouseabout."
"When Jack is old and weatherbeat, / Too old to roustabout, / In some rum-shop they’ll let him stop, / At eight bells he’s turned out."

Etymology

From roust + about.

Usage

American usage
Intransitive verb

Inflected Forms

roustabouts (plural) rouseabout (alternative) roustabouts (present, singular) roustabouting (participle, present) roustabouted (participle, past) roustabouted (past)

Frequently Paired Words

oilpatch

Synonyms

rouser rousie rouster roughneck deckhand

Questions

What does roustabout mean?: An unskilled laborer, especially at an oilfield, at a circus or on a ship.
Where does roustabout come from?: From roust + about.

How to pronounce roustabout

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