# cowboy

Pronunciation: say "KOW-boy" /ˈkaʊˌbɔɪ/

## Noun

1. A man who herds and cares for cattle grazing on open range, especially in the American West.
   - Simple: A worker who looks after cattle on open land in the American West.
   - _The cowboy drove the herd across the open range toward the river._
   - _On the frontier, a cowboy might spend weeks alone with the cattle._
2. A man who identifies with cowboy culture, wearing a cowboy hat and enjoying country and western music.
   - Simple: Someone who enjoys cowboy culture, wearing a cowboy hat and liking country and western music.
   - _He's a weekend cowboy who collects country records and never takes off his hat._
   - _The bar was full of city cowboys in fancy boots and ten-gallon hats._
3. A person who behaves recklessly, especially to show off. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A person who does dangerous things, often just to show off.
   - _Some cowboy in a sports car cut across four lanes to show off._
   - _Don't be a cowboy on the ski slopes, or someone could get hurt._
4. An independent tradesman who is dishonest or does incompetent, poor-quality work. *(colloquial, British)*
   - Simple: A worker who does building or repair jobs badly or dishonestly.
   - _The cowboy who fixed our roof left it leaking worse than before._
   - _We hired some cowboy who botched the whole bathroom and then vanished._
6. In a deck of playing cards, any of the four kings. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A king card in a deck of playing cards.
   - _He slid a cowboy across the felt to complete his full house._
   - _Pocket cowboys gave her a strong start before the flop._
7. Short form of cowboy pool. — Ellipsis of cowboy pool.
   - Simple: Short form of cowboy pool. It's the name of a pool game.
   - _They spent the evening shooting cowboy at the back table._
   - _She prefers cowboy to straight pool because of its scoring._

## Verb

5. To work as a cowboy, herding cattle on the open range.
   - Simple: To do the work of herding cattle on a ranch or open land.
   - _She decided to cowboy on her uncle's ranch after college._
   - _They cowboyed through the dry season, driving herds north._

## Origin

Formed in English from cow + boy.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/cowboy (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).