rustler

noun

rus·​tler ˈrə-s(ə-)lər 

plural rustlers

: a person who steals livestock from a farm or ranch

By the time Bijah had reached the age of twenty-three he was a known cattle rustler, and an outlaw with three killings behind him.

—Louis L'Amour

A gang of professional sheep rustlers has been stalking our county—and all the local farmers are worried that we're going to be hit next.

—James Delingpole

Examples of rustler in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Gone were the twisted souls of the Deep South, replaced with stoic ranch hands, rustlers and gunslingers whose lives and fates played out in the harsh midday sun. —Steve Marble, Los Angeles Times, 13 June 2023

Hikers on the Hidden Valley trail, above, made their way along a one-mile loop that winds among massive boulders, through what is rumored to have been a cattle rustler’s hide-out. —New York Times, 8 July 2021

The friendship between the lawman (played by Barry Sullivan) and the gun-toting rustler was fictionalized and greatly exaggerated over the show’s 75 episodes; many historians believe that Garrett actually shot and killed Billy in 1881. —BostonGlobe.com, 7 Aug. 2022

The friendship between the lawman (played by Barry Sullivan) and the gun-toting rustler was fictionalized and greatly exaggerated over the show’s 75 episodes; many historians believe that Sheriff Garrett actually shot and killed Billy in 1881. —New York Times, 7 Aug. 2022

The rustler is usually a beekeeper or someone familiar with the transportation of bees. —Fox News, 22 Feb. 2022

Word History

First Known Use

1878, in the meaning defined above