as in cowpoke
a hired hand who tends cattle or horses at a ranch or on the range
cowboys were rounding up the cattle for branding
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of cowboy
The final artwork is Paul Heyer’s shimmery painting of a cowboy, larger than life, gently crouching to scoop water from the ground.
—
Lori Waxman, Chicago Tribune, 21 July 2025
Or cowboys around the fire in the early morning light without a cup of coffee in hand?
—Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 20 July 2025
Lyrics invoke rifles, scythes, sailors, saints, cowboys, floods, Mother Earth, Joan of Arc and blazing infernos.
—Sophie Williams, Billboard, 17 July 2025
Meet Route 66’s new resident giants In the 1960s and ’70s, the International Fiberglass Company made hundreds of giant fiberglass advertising figures—Paul Bunyan, Yogi Bear, cowboys, giant chickens, dinosaurs—for businesses to display out front as a way to attract road-tripping families.
—AFAR Media, 14 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for cowboy
Lori Waxman, Chicago Tribune, 21 July 2025
Or cowboys around the fire in the early morning light without a cup of coffee in hand?
—Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 20 July 2025
Lyrics invoke rifles, scythes, sailors, saints, cowboys, floods, Mother Earth, Joan of Arc and blazing infernos.
—Sophie Williams, Billboard, 17 July 2025
Meet Route 66’s new resident giants In the 1960s and ’70s, the International Fiberglass Company made hundreds of giant fiberglass advertising figures—Paul Bunyan, Yogi Bear, cowboys, giant chickens, dinosaurs—for businesses to display out front as a way to attract road-tripping families.
—AFAR Media, 14 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for cowboy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cowboy
Noun
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The Player’s Guide details how to build a character, whether its just a common cowpoke or one of the more unusual options like a huckster or blessed.—
Rob Wieland,
Forbes.com,
29 May 2025
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It’s been ten weeks since the robbery, and Theresa and Shermy the dog are the last two urban cowpokes standing at the old makeshift homestead motel.—
Andy Andersen,
Vulture,
18 Apr. 2025
Noun
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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
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Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yates Clint Eastwood portrayed Rowdy Yates, the young cowhand who eventually matures into a leader.—
Tereza Shkurtaj,
People.com,
7 June 2025
Noun
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The Supreme Court had already decided that yes, indeed, Texas — which spent a hundred million buckaroos a year on California produce — could throw up its own quarantine on Golden State goods.—
Patt Morrison,
Los Angeles Times,
15 Oct. 2024
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The group disqualifies him, however, after researchers discover his buckaroo abilities are limited to wearing expensive Stetson hats and tripping on his lasso.—
Gustavo ArellanoColumnist,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Dec. 2022
Noun
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The picture-perfect cowman’s paradise of Stockyards City is true to its stripes—and nowhere is this more evident than in Cattlemen’s Steakhouse.—
Lisa Cericola,
Southern Living,
29 Mar. 2025
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The reply of my friend and hunting companion was one of those quaint, rasping epithets which only a cowman can manage when everything has gone wrong.—
Frank C. Hibben,
Outdoor Life,
27 Feb. 2025
Noun
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The National Western Stock Show brings bison and ranchers to the area.—
Elizabeth Hernandez,
Denver Post,
7 Aug. 2025
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With the ranchers’ path to compensation back open, the Court declined to rule on the big question of whether the Takings Clause on its own grants the right to be heard in federal court.—
Andrew Wimer,
Forbes.com,
6 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Ride horseback with local gauchos (skilled horsemen) near the quaint towns of Cachi or Cafayate.—
Carola Fresno,
Travel + Leisure,
2 Aug. 2025
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Reiner's a five-time qualifier for the National Finals Rodeo as a bareback horseman, consistently ranked as one of the world's top ten in his sport.—
Marcus K. Dowling,
The Tennessean,
2 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cowboy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cowboy. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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