roustabout

Definition

An unskilled laborer, especially at an oilfield, at a circus or on a ship.

Etymology

From roust + about.

Example Sentences

• "The U. is my own Alma Mater, and I am proud to be known as an alumni, but there are certain instructors there who seem to think we ought to turn the conduct of the nation over to hoboes and roustabouts."
• "Then Sísiphos in torment I beheld / being roustabout to a tremendous boulder."
• "Brooklyn Tony, who had run away from home to be a circus roustabout, became a poster artist and eventually an Abstract Expressionist."