roustabout

noun

roust·​about ˈrau̇-stə-ˌbau̇t How to pronounce roustabout (audio)
1
2
: an unskilled or semiskilled laborer especially in an oil field or refinery
3
: a circus worker who erects and dismantles tents, cares for the grounds, and handles animals and equipment
4
: a person with no permanent home or regular occupation
also : one who stirs up trouble

Did you know?

Circus roustabouts are most commonly associated with circus animals, of course, but they also have a connection with game birds, at least in terms of etymology. "Roustabout" comes from "roust," which is an alteration of "rouse," a verb from Middle English that originally meant "to shake the feathers" (as in the way a bird might ruffle its feathers or shake its plumage when it is settling down or grooming itself). "Rouse," which today is a synonym of "awaken," also formerly meant "to cause to break from cover," a sense that may have influenced the modern meaning of "roust": "to drive (as from bed) roughly or unceremoniously."

Examples of roustabout in a Sentence

sought work as a roustabout on the city's seedy waterfront
Recent Examples on the Web In North Dakota, where the oil industry has been struggling to hire roustabouts to operate rigs in the region’s notoriously punishing weather, the state Petroleum Council is recruiting people across the western prairie to act as sponsors for new Ukrainian immigrants who can be put to work. Miriam Jordan, New York Times, 23 Apr. 2023 In North Dakota, where the oil industry has been struggling to hire roustabouts to operate rigs in the region’s notoriously punishing weather, the state Petroleum Council is recruiting people across the Western prairie to act as sponsors for new Ukrainian immigrants who can be put to work. Miriam Jordan, BostonGlobe.com, 23 Apr. 2023 With only an eighth-grade education — there was no high school near his isolated farm — Dad supported a family on an oil worker’s pay, rising through the ranks from roustabout to toolpusher and finally assistant foreman at Shell’s Ventura lease. George Skelton, Los Angeles Times, 3 Apr. 2023 His young mother, Beatrice, had married an engineer and roustabout named Horace Seidner who turned out not to be the family type. Penelope Green, New York Times, 13 Oct. 2022 Cox would work his way up from a roustabout and roughneck to eventually leading an oil and gas company as well as other notable businesses. Dallas News, 7 Nov. 2020 The shale patch was the Wild West reborn, featuring poker games with $1000 buy-ins, boisterous strip clubs packed with roustabouts and brawling in the muddy streets illuminated by columns of flaring gas. Shawn Tully, Fortune, 30 Apr. 2020 The Showmen's League Of America commemorates the 1918 Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus train disaster which killed 86 circus performers and roustabouts and injured 127, at Showman's Rest in Wood Lawn Cemetery in Forest Park, Ill., on Thursday, May 5, 2018. Dawn Mitchell, Indianapolis Star, 20 Feb. 2020 Bradley has enough swagger as the Elvis-wannabe, Feallock ably switches between the sweet and charming tomboy who finally wears a dress to attract Chad, to cross-dressing as another roustabout named Ed in order to befriend Chad. Elizabeth Marie Himchak, Pomerado News, 7 Aug. 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'roustabout.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1860, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of roustabout was in 1860

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Cite this Entry

“Roustabout.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/roustabout. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

roustabout

noun
roust·​about ˈrau̇-stə-ˌbau̇t How to pronounce roustabout (audio)
: a person (as a deckhand, dock worker, or oil field worker) who does heavy labor
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