roughneck

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A labourer on an oil rig or in the oilpatch, either skilled or semiskilled.
  2. A dirty or low-paid worker, a labourer; an ironworker in an ironworks or a steelworker in a steelworks.
  3. Someone with rough manners; a rowdy or uncouth person.
verb
  1. To work as a laborer on an oil rig.

Pronunciation

/ˈɹʌfˌnɛk/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Neøn-roughneck.wav

Word forms

roughneck roughnecks roughnecking roughnecked

Etymology

From rough + neck, originally "someone who works a manual labour job".

Synonyms

Related words

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.