Cowboy

Origin

• cow + boy

Full definition of cowboy

Noun

1. A man who tends free-range cattle, especially in the American West.
2. A man who identifies with cowboy culture, including wearing a cowboy hat and being a fan of country and western music.
3. (informal) A person who engages in reckless behavior, especially for the purpose of showing off.
4. (British, informal) A dishonest and/or incompetent independent tradesman.
5. (card games slang) A playing card of king rank.

Related terms

• cowman

Coordinate terms

• cowgirl

Hypernyms

• cowhand
• cowperson
• cowpoke

Verb

1. (intransitive) To work as a cowboy, herding cattle.
• 1994, Sherry Robinson, El Malpais, Mt. Taylor, and the Zuni Mountains: a hiking guide and historyBesides cowboying he worked at a small sawmill that cut logs into "four slabs and a tie" and sold ties to the railroad.
• 1995, American Cowboy (volume 2, number 4, Nov-Dec 1995, page 26)Derwood Bailey cowboyed for 50 cents a day, a noon meal, and a gallon of oats for his horse.
• 2003, C. J. Hadley, Trappings of the Great Basin BuckarooI still had never ridden or cowboyed, and I wanted to learn something about it. I'd been making the damn saddles for years but didn't know how to use them.