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roughneck. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
roughneck, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
roughneck in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
roughneck you have here. The definition of the word
roughneck will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
roughneck, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From rough + neck, originally "someone who works a manual labour job".
Noun
roughneck (plural roughnecks)
- (colloquial, chiefly US) Someone with rough manners; a rowdy or uncouth person.
2019, Bernardine Evaristo, Girl, Woman, Other, Penguin Books (2020), page 202:LaTisha has long wanted to show Carole sheʼs not the roughneck she used to be, the roughneck who wasnʼt good enough to be her friend.
- (colloquial, chiefly US) An ironworker; a dirty or low-paid worker, a labourer.
- (colloquial, chiefly US) A labourer on an oil rig.
2013, Philipp Meyer, The Son, Simon & Schuster, published 2014, page 286:As for the minerals, there has been a good deal of drilling along the big river; trucks and roughnecks no longer garner any notice.
Translations
someone with rough manners; a rowdy or uncouth person
See also
Verb
roughneck (third-person singular simple present roughnecks, present participle roughnecking, simple past and past participle roughnecked)
- To work as a laborer on an oil rig.
2009 January 13, Michael Brick, “Racing's Last Frontier”, in New York Times:There was a time not long ago when this region appeared as some enduring mystification, its citizenry best known for roughnecking on the North Slope […]