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swagman

swagman

9.9
A man who travels to find work carrying his things in a bundle in Australia long ago
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : nómada
  • The swagman walked many miles carrying his belongings in a bundle, searching for work in the outback.

Examples

  • There once was a swagman camped by a billabong Under the shade of the coolibah tree

  • # You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me # Down came a jumbuck to drink by the billabong # Up jumped a swagman and grabbed him with glee...

  • - # Once a jolly swagman # -

  • Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee

  • Up jumped the swagman And grabbed him with glee

  • Baby always got up real oily for her job cutting meat at Swagman Giant Supermarket.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • Up jumped the swagman Sprang into that billabong

  • Once a jolly swagman

  • # # Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong # # Under the shade of a coolibah tree

  • Billy's intervention is the correspondence made by his own swagman in the negative commercial high-wheel waltzing Matilda.

    Blog text (12)

Synonyms

swagwoman
vsswagman
  • Archaic
9.9

A woman who travels to find work while carrying her belongings in a bundle

is the male counterpart rather than female
swaggie
vsswagman
  • Archaic
9.9

A person who travels through the countryside carrying their things in a bag while looking for work

is used more generally not limited to rural settings
scourer
vsswagman
9.3

A person who travels widely and energetically to search for something

focuses on finding work rather than searching for anything in general

Surface Forms

swagman singular
swagmen plural

Morphology

swagman = swag + man (transparent) = swag + man

Direct compound of 'swag' (a traveller's bundle) + 'man', meaning a man who carries a swag; the meaning follows straightforwardly from the components.

Etymology

Swagman is made of swag and man. A swag was a traveler's 'bundle' or 'bed-roll' with all his things. So a swagman is a man who walked from place to place carrying his bundle and looking for work, like the figure in the Australian song 'Waltzing Matilda'.