as in cowboy
a hired hand who tends cattle or horses at a ranch or on the range
we need to hire a new cowhand to help out
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of cowhand
Residents and visitors will line the streets to watch cowhands from various ranches herd more than 30 Longhorns through town, a tradition dating back to when the parade was a downtown cattle drive.
—
CBS News, 7 Jan. 2026
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
Things are also taking a turn for the worse in Texas, where Runs His Horse successfully tracks down the ranch cowhands that interrupted Pete and Teonna’s tryst.
—Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 9 Mar. 2025
The term Cowboy became widely popular for the trade and subsequently was whitewashed to then exclude Black cowhands from the history books.
—Stephanie Tharpe, Forbes, 25 Dec. 2024
Houston is also home to the rodeo, the country’s oldest Black trail ride, and Black cowboy culture — in 1800s Texas, one in four cowhands were Black.
—Maria Sherman, Fortune, 29 Mar. 2024
On a recent morning, one cowhand lounged in dusty jeans.
—Jes Aznar Mike Ives, New York Times, 26 June 2023
CBS News, 7 Jan. 2026
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
Things are also taking a turn for the worse in Texas, where Runs His Horse successfully tracks down the ranch cowhands that interrupted Pete and Teonna’s tryst.
—Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 9 Mar. 2025
The term Cowboy became widely popular for the trade and subsequently was whitewashed to then exclude Black cowhands from the history books.
—Stephanie Tharpe, Forbes, 25 Dec. 2024
Houston is also home to the rodeo, the country’s oldest Black trail ride, and Black cowboy culture — in 1800s Texas, one in four cowhands were Black.
—Maria Sherman, Fortune, 29 Mar. 2024
On a recent morning, one cowhand lounged in dusty jeans.
—Jes Aznar Mike Ives, New York Times, 26 June 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cowhand
cowboy
Noun
-
Malone describes moving to Denver 50-plus years ago with his wife, Leslie, and falling in love with the beauty of the Rockies, the cowboy culture, the clean air, and the ethic of freedom dominant in the West at the time.—
Aldo Svaldi,
Denver Post,
1 Feb. 2026
-
Bella Hadid's relationship with cowboy prodigy Adan Banuelos has quietly come to an end a little after two years of dating.—
Glamour,
Glamour,
1 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cowhand.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cowhand. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
