roustabout

/'raustəbaut/

Thân thiện

A roustabout helps load cargo onto the ship.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • A laborer on an oil rig or a ship: A "roustabout" is a worker who performs general, often physically demanding, manual labor, especially on ships, docks, or in the oil industry.
   • An unskilled or casual laborer: More broadly, it can refer to a person who does various kinds of unskilled physical work.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • He worked as a roustabout on an offshore drilling platform.
  • The circus hired several roustabouts to help set up the tents.

Advanced Usage

• The term often implies temporary, itinerant, or physically tough work. It is commonly associated with industries like maritime, oil and gas, and entertainment (e.g., carnivals, circuses).
  • After college, he spent a summer as a roustabout in the oil fields.

Variants and Related Words

• Roust (verb): To stir up, rouse, or force someone out. This is the root verb from which "roustabout" is derived.
  • The police officer rousted the sleeping man from the park bench.

Synonyms

• Laborer: A person doing unskilled manual work.
• Dockworker: A person who loads and unloads ships.
• Rig worker: A worker on an oil or gas rig.
• Handyman: A person skilled at various small tasks.

Related Phrases

• While "roustabout" itself is not typically used in phrasal verbs, the related verb "roust" can be.
  • Roust out: To force someone to leave a place.

    • The security guard rousted out the trespassers.

Related Idioms

• There are no common idioms that directly feature the word "roustabout." Its usage is typically literal, describing a type of job or worker.

Học thuật

Noun

1. a member of a ship's crew who performs manual labor

Từ đồng nghĩa

• deckhand