cowboy

¹cow·boy

noun \-ˌbȯi\

Definition of COWBOY

1

: one who tends cattle or horses; especially : a usually mounted cattle-ranch hand

2

: a rodeo performer

3

: one having qualities (as recklessness, aggressiveness, or independence) popularly associated with cowboys: as

a : a reckless driver

b : a business or businessperson operating in an uncontrolled or unregulated manner

Examples of COWBOY

1. a movie about cowboys in the old West
2. He worked for several years as a cowboy on a ranch in Texas.
3. We've got a bunch of risk-taking cowboys running this project.

First Known Use of COWBOY

1623

Related to COWBOY

Synonyms

buckaroo (also buckeroo), cowhand, cowman, cowpoke, cowpuncher, waddy (or waddie) [West], wrangler

Related Words

cowgirl; caballero [chiefly Southwest], gaucho, vaquero; horseman, horsewoman; cattleman, rancher, stockman; cowherd, drover, herder, herdsman

Rhymes with COWBOY

ahoy, alloy, annoy, bad boy, ball boy, batboy, B-boy, beachboy, bellboy, bell buoy, best boy, big boy, bok choy, borzoi, boy toy, busboy, callboy, carboy, charpoy, choirboy, convoy, decoy, deploy, destroy, doughboy, employ, enjoy, envoy, flyboy, footboy, Hanoi, hautbois, highboy, homeboy, houseboy, killjoy, Khoikhoi, life buoy, linkboy, lowboy, McCoy, newsboy, old boy, page boy, playboy, plowboy, po'boy, postboy, potboy, Quemoy, Rob Roy, Saint Croix, Savoy, schoolboy, sepoy, stock boy, tallboy, tatsoi, teapoy, Tolstoy, tomboy, travois, viceroy

²cowboy

intransitive verb

Definition of COWBOY

: to work as a cowboy <cowboyed in Texas and Oklahoma>

Examples of COWBOY

1. He cowboyed in Texas and Oklahoma.

First Known Use of COWBOY

1948

cowboy

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Horseman skilled at handling cattle in the U.S. West. From c. 1820, cowboys were employed in small numbers on Texas ranches, where they had learned the skills of the vaquero (Spanish: “cowboy”). After the Civil War, their numbers rapidly multiplied as cattle raising evolved into a lucrative industry throughout the western territories. Cowboys rounded up and branded the cattle, kept watch over the herd, and drove those ready for market to railroad towns. As the agricultural frontier moved west, the open range was transformed into farms, and by 1890 cowboys had been forced to settle on ranches. The romance of their image lived on in U.S. folklore and through movies and television.