as in cowhands
a hired hand who tends cattle or horses at a ranch or on the range
cowboys were rounding up the cattle for branding
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Recent Examples of cowboys
There’s talk of whiskey, Saturday nights, cowboys, and everlasting love.
—
The Week Us, TheWeek, 1 Apr. 2026
The six cowboys who got to appear on the show mostly knew of each other for being in the gay rodeo scene, but weren't all friends at the time.
—Isa Almeida, Oklahoman, 28 Mar. 2026
Pirates or western cowboys are just a couple of the outfit themes.
—Kathleen Wong, USA Today, 22 Mar. 2026
And also on Untucked… • The girls hang out with the cowboys, and everyone agrees that the whole episode was a ton of fun.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 21 Mar. 2026
There are songs about whiskey, Saturday night, and Daytona; tunes about cowboys, loneliness, and everlasting love.
—Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Pitchfork, 20 Mar. 2026
And if climbing arborists are tree cowboys, climbing competitions are their rodeos.
—Calin Van Paris, Outside, 19 Mar. 2026
The collection reinterprets iconic Lee silhouettes like the Storm Rider jacket, a style that dates to 1948 when it was originally designed and advertised to cowboys.
—Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 19 Mar. 2026
Their ancestors started the ride during segregation nearly 70 years earlier, when the first group of seven Black cowboys needed an armed guard at trail’s end to enter Memorial Park.
—Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Washington Post, 19 Mar. 2026
The Week Us, TheWeek, 1 Apr. 2026
The six cowboys who got to appear on the show mostly knew of each other for being in the gay rodeo scene, but weren't all friends at the time.
—Isa Almeida, Oklahoman, 28 Mar. 2026
Pirates or western cowboys are just a couple of the outfit themes.
—Kathleen Wong, USA Today, 22 Mar. 2026
And also on Untucked… • The girls hang out with the cowboys, and everyone agrees that the whole episode was a ton of fun.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 21 Mar. 2026
There are songs about whiskey, Saturday night, and Daytona; tunes about cowboys, loneliness, and everlasting love.
—Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Pitchfork, 20 Mar. 2026
And if climbing arborists are tree cowboys, climbing competitions are their rodeos.
—Calin Van Paris, Outside, 19 Mar. 2026
The collection reinterprets iconic Lee silhouettes like the Storm Rider jacket, a style that dates to 1948 when it was originally designed and advertised to cowboys.
—Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 19 Mar. 2026
Their ancestors started the ride during segregation nearly 70 years earlier, when the first group of seven Black cowboys needed an armed guard at trail’s end to enter Memorial Park.
—Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Washington Post, 19 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cowboys
cowhands
Noun
-
There are plenty of places to take a horse, with experienced cowhands to guide the way.—
Jenny Peters,
Oc Register,
9 Sep. 2025
-
Now, the ranch is proactively using drones equipped with speakers and bright lights as stand-in cowhands, WSJ reported.—
Rachel Raposas,
People.com,
5 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cowboys.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cowboys. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.
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