roustabout
2
9.9
- noun
- /ˈraʊstəˌbaʊt/
:
trabajador
- We were roustabouts twenty-three miles offshore.
- roughnecks and roustabouts
- oil roustabout
Examples
-
The roustabouts that Move the show at dawn
-
As a roustabout, he worked long hours loading equipment for the circus.
-
An oil roustabout, out of work, overheard the boy.
Fiction book (1990) -
Otto, grab a couple of roustabouts and set these wagons straight.
-
Each of the hundreds of roustabouts has his place and his job, a responsible job, for one mistake, one bit of carelessness, could cost a life.
-
The plain people, the waitresses, secretaries, roustabouts, and construction workers keep the world going.
Fiction book (2002) -
Shearers and roustabouts alike clomped round and round the long wooden floor of the shed, some dancing with women, some with each other.
Fiction book (1994) -
Skarkey's dad evidently still had powerful allies in the company because Dennis just told Skarkey to take a roustabout and do a safety check, then closed himself inside his office.
Fiction book (1999) -
The oil rig depended on roustabouts to assist with the physical tasks required for extraction.
-
During the summer, many young men took jobs as roustabouts, performing manual labor on the docks.
Synonyms
∞
4.9
A worker who does physical work on a ship or farm
68
1.0
A person who does hard physical work without special skills, often on building sites
8
5.7
A crew member who does physical work on a ship's deck
4
6.9
A worker who does heavy physical work on oil rigs or construction sites
1
3.0
A person who does hard work using their hands
A person who works very hard at physical jobs
A person who does very hard physical work, for example in mines
How Skilled
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Roustabout comes from the two parts roust and about, where roust (like the common word rouse) means 'to wake or force to move' and about means 'around'. So a roustabout is someone who is made to move around to do hard, physical work, which is why today it means an unskilled worker on ships, in circuses, or at oil fields.