cowboyn.
/ˈkaʊbɔɪ/, U.S. /ˈkaʊˌbɔɪ/ I. A man or boy who looks after cows.
1. A boy or young man who tends or herds cows. Now chiefly historical except in sense 2b.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping of cattle > [noun] > keeper of cattle > tender of cattle
cowman1593
cowboy1623
cow-man1677
cowgirl1753
stockman1806
cowboy1825
cowboy1849
fogger1858
cow-woman1870
cattleman1878
cow-girl1884
tackman1885
cow-hand1886
peeler1894
rawhider1908
stock-boy1937
1623 H. Cockeram Eng. Dict. Bubulcitate, to cry like a cow boy.
1735 J. Swift Receipt to Stella in Wks. II. 219 Justices o' Quorum, Their Cow-boys bearing Cloaks before 'um.
1788 J. O'Keeffe Farmer ii. iii. 35 (song) A flaxen-headed Cow Boy, As simple as may be.
1887 A. Lang Johnny Nut 1 A little cow-boy named Johnny Nut.
2013 Assam (India) Tribune (Nexis) 8 Apr. A cow boy was sleeping under a big banyan tree..and dreamt that Lord Krishna urged him to pass a message to the villagers.
2. spec.
a. New Zealand and Australian. A boy or young man employed to milk the cows and undertake other domestic chores, such as looking after the vegetable garden, on a station or farm. Cf. cowman n. 2a. Now chiefly historical.In quot. 1825 apparently with allusion to the song quoted in quot. 1788 at sense 1.
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1825 Australian 6 Oct. The one that you fancied loved you so dearly has given a proof of her sincere affection, by comforting herself with a ‘flaxen headed cowboy’ for an husband.
1854 C. Cutten Let. 4 Apr. in W. H. Cutten Lett. (1979) 56 The cow boy is leaving..so I expect I shall have to scamper after the cows myself.
1875 S. Wood & H. Lapham Waiting for Mail 83 It did not take Frank long..to..drive the cow down. In the township he met Edwards, who..said..‘Hallo! have you turned cow-boy?’
1985 E. Langdale-Hunt Last Entail Male 136 On the way back to the Chatham Island hotel the cowboy, quite a young lad, said in a quavering voice, ‘Do you think she will die, Mr Hunt?’
2017 South Canterbury (N.Z.) Herald (Nexis) 8 Feb. 22 He picked up work as a cow boy, which may mean dairy worker in today's language, at Peel Forest Station.
b. Esp. in the western United States: a man or boy who herds cattle on an open range or (later) a ranch, usually working on horseback. Later also: a character type in the genre of the Western (see western n.2 4) and more widely in popular culture, based (often somewhat loosely) on such herdsmen and ranchers and typically characterized as a skilled horseman and gunfighter. Cf. cowgirl n. 2.This sense developed as a specific use of sense 1, probably significantly influenced also by vaquero n. Cowboys herded cattle on the Great Plains in the days of open ranges in the second half of the 19th cent. As the cattle industry spread northward from Texas into Canada and westward into the Rocky Mountains, they were frequently employed to drive large herds to new pastures. In the late 19th cent. most cowboys began to take more settled work on ranches as the introduction of barbed wire made it cheaper and easier to enclose previously open ranges, and railway expansion made trail-driving increasingly uneconomical. However, the idea of cowboys leading largely nomadic lives remained an important part of the cultural stereotype and informed many of the extended uses at branch II.See also Cowboys and Indians at Phrases.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping of cattle > [noun] > keeper of cattle > tender of cattle
cowman1593
cowboy1623
cow-man1677
cowgirl1753
stockman1806
cowboy1825
cowboy1849
fogger1858
cow-woman1870
cattleman1878
cow-girl1884
tackman1885
cow-hand1886
peeler1894
rawhider1908
stock-boy1937
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping of cattle > [noun] > herding of cattle > cowherd
cowherda1000
oxherd1281
geldherd1284
nowtherd1296
neatherd1301
drover1384
catcherc1400
caller?a1500
ox-boy1580
neatress1586
harrier1591
cowherdess1611
spurn-cow1614
neatherdess1648
cowgirl1753
herds-woman1818
oxman1820
ranchero1825
topsman1825
vaquero1826
herdsmaiden1829
overlander1841
cattle-herd1845
cowboy1849
buckaroo1852
stock-rider1862
pointer1869
night-herder1870
puncher1870
bull-puncher1872
outrider1872
cowpuncher1873
range man1875
cow-puncher1878
herd-boy1878
cow-girl1884
trail-herd1885
trail boss1890
nighthawk1903
point man1903
swing man1903
top hand1912
charro1926
waddy1927
cattle-puncher1928
cowpoke1928
paniolo1947
1849 J. S. Jenkins Hist. War U.S. & Mexico i. 52 The Mexican rancheros..ventured across the Rio Grande..but they were immediately attacked by the Texan ‘cow-boys’.
1877 R. E. Strahorn Hand-bk. Wyoming 35 Part of the cow-boys hold the mass while others ride through it.
1889 Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 11 May 1/7 A fight occurred between Indians and cowboys near that post.
1910 Moving Picture World 21 May 834/1 It is almost impossible to criticize these Wild Western films, because cowboys are likely to do almost anything.
1993 R. Shilts Conduct Unbecoming iii. xxvii. 269 In movies, one white cowboy could ride into a sleepy border town and single-handedly defeat scores of slovenly Mexicans.
2014 Western Horseman Mar. 52/2 Ranch rodeo continues to grow as a competitive avenue for working cowboys.
II. Extended uses relating to people.
3. U.S. In the American War of Independence (1775–83): (a name for) a member of any of certain groups of pro-British marauders active in Westchester County, New York. Cf. refugee n. 2, skinner n.1 7. Now historical.
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1778 A. McDougall Let. 28 Dec. in G. Clinton Public Papers (1900) II. 431 Emmerick enlists the Cow Boys, for the express purpose of Spies and plunderers.
1780 J. Thacher Mil. Jrnl. (1827) 232 There are within the British lines, banditti consisting of lawless villains, who have received the names of cow-boys and skinners.
1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan III. 290 Who knows but you are one o' the tories yourself or one o' the cowboys?
1929 Boys' Life July 10/1 The dwellers in the Neutral Ground..stuck to their homes despite ravages of Cowboy and Skinner and British raids.
2021 K. McClellan Virtuous Citizens iii. 75 Historically, the Cowboys were men loyal to the British cause; the Skinners claimed revolutionary sympathies.
4. slang (originally and chiefly U.S.). depreciative. A young man who frequents or hangs around in a certain place or establishment for the purpose of meeting his friends (often the other members of a gang), impressing girls, etc. Chiefly as the second element in compounds with the place or establishment specified. Now rare.See also drugstore cowboy n., milk-bar cowboy n.
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the mind > goodness and badness > harmfulness > playful mischievousness > mischievous person > [noun] > and boisterous
rigsby1546
cowboy1884
1884 Dubuque (Iowa) Times 3 Sept. 6/5 Parents have been notified many times, to put a bridle on these young cowboys, but the warnings have been unheeded.
1929 M. Bodenheim Sixty Seconds 182 He was..evolving into an uncaring, hop-skip-and-jump numbskull of a cake-eater and a lunchroom-cowboy, and what for?
1952 P. H. Bonner SPQR xx. 205 Two very chic girls..were sitting on bar stools..with a typical Via Veneto cowboy in sports jacket and flannel slacks.
1959 News Chron. 7 Dec. 5/2 Coffee bar cowboys..are the teenagers with black jackets and fast motor cyclists who gather in cafés.
5. slang or colloquial (originally U.S.).
a. A wild, rash, or reckless man; one who is has little regard for rules or laws, or is impulsively violent or aggressive; spec. a hot-headed, ruthless, or unrestrained criminal, esp. a gunman.Recorded earliest as a modifier (see Compounds 2a).In later use sometimes difficult to distinguish from sense 8b.
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1885 Daily Brit. Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 6 Sept. He..scooped in the police commissioner and three of his mounted bullies, at the same time sending a telegram..to complain of the cowboy tactics of Johnston and his ‘merry, merry men’, whose conduct is fitly described as that of cowboys.
1902 ‘H. McHugh’ It's up to You iii. 63 If those cowboys ever grew wise to the fact that we were honeying they would immediately turn that train into a howling wilderness of noise.
1935 C. Odets Waiting for Lefty i. 5 in Three Plays You got the committee here. This bunch of cowboys you elected.
1972 E. Grogan Ringolevio i. 51 O'Keefe stole a real pistol someplace and became a cowboy, sticking up gas stations, delicatessens, candy stores, anything.
1998 I. Welsh Filth 153 A bit of a cowboy this cunt.
b. spec. A reckless or irresponsible motorist; one who drives aggressively or impatiently. Now chiefly as a modifier (see Compounds 2b).In later use sometimes difficult to distinguish from sense 8b.
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society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > driving or operating a vehicle > driver or operator of vehicle > [noun] > driver of motor vehicle > fast or reckless
hell driver1699
scorcher1885
automaniac1902
speed merchant1913
speedster1921
thruster1925
cowboy1928
speed hog1928
speeder1974
1928 New Yorker 3 Nov. 94/2 A Glossary of Taxicab Words and Phrases... Cowboy—A taxicab driver who makes speed through traffic and around fenders; term used derisively.
1964 Sunday Times 23 Aug. 1/1 By slogging, an experienced haulage driver can earn perhaps £30 a week. He will not touch the £16-a-week job. So ‘the cowboys’ take over—the new boys ‘just off minis’, the sacked ‘C’ licence drivers, the rough-necks, the maniacs.
1984 Truckin' Life Jan. 45/1 Equipment Manager Lindsay King demands..minimum of five years interstate driving..and a steady nature and background... ‘We have to weed out the cowboys…we need the top professional drivers.’
2013 @ell_dog_92 7 Sept. in twitter.com (accessed 5 July 2021) Be careful on the roads today as they are full of cowboy drivers putting our premiums right through the roof!
6. slang. A policeman.
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society > law > law enforcement > police force or the police > [noun] > policeman
truncheon officer1708
runner1735
horny1753
nibbing-cull1775
nabbing-cull1780
police officer1784
police constable1787
policeman1788
scout1789
nabman1792
nabber1795
pig1811
Bow-street officer1812
nab1813
peeler1816
split1819
grunter1823
robin redbreast1824
bulky1828
raw (or unboiled) lobster1829
Johnny Darm1830
polis1833
crusher1835
constable1839
police1839
agent1841
johndarm1843
blue boy1844
bobby1844
bluebottle1845
copper1846
blue1848
polisman1850
blue coat1851
Johnny1851
PC1851
spot1851
Jack1854
truncheonist1854
fly1857
greycoat1857
cop1859
Cossack1859
slop1859
scuffer1860
nailerc1863
worm1864
Robert1870
reeler1879
minion of the law1882
ginger pop1887
rozzer1888
nark1890
bull1893
grasshopper1893
truncheon-bearer1896
John1898
finger1899
flatty1899
mug1903
John Dunn1904
John Hop1905
gendarme1906
Johnny Hop1908
pavement pounder1908
buttons1911
flat-foot1913
pounder1919
Hop1923
bogy1925
shamus1925
heat1928
fuzz1929
law1929
narker1932
roach1932
jonnop1938
grass1939
roller1940
Babylon1943
walloper1945
cozzer1950
Old Bill1958
cowboy1959
monaych1961
cozzpot1962
policeperson1965
woolly1965
Fed1966
wolly1970
plod1971
roz1971
Smokey Bear1974
bear1975
beast1978
woodentop1981
Five-O1983
dibble1990
Bow-street runner-
1959 C. MacInnes Absolute Beginners 70 ‘They didn't seem to me like cowboys.’.. ‘I can smell a copper, in the dark, a hundred feet away, blindfolded.’
1959 Encounter Aug. 32 Who should come round the corner but a cowboy..with..a helmet not too secure.
1996 J. Cameron It was Accident xi. 174 None looked like cowboys out of Walthamstow.
2007 L. Redhead Cherry Pie ii. 347 The damn cowboys in the cop car were veering over.
7. colloquial. As a general or relatively neutral form of address for a man or boy.
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1961 Washington Post 6 Apr. a19/2 ‘Take it easy, cowboy,’ counseled the operator; ‘I've got a senator aboard!’
1978 T. O'Brien Going after Cacciato i. 16 Don't forget, cowboy, you got your own health to think about.
2003 G. Pelecanos Soul Circus xxii. 203 I don't know what you dream about up here, cowboy, but it doesn't get anything solved.
8. colloquial (originally and chiefly British).
a. An unscrupulous or unregulated trader who provides poor-quality or overpriced goods or services; esp. an unqualified builder, plumber, etc., who does shoddy work but charges less than those are more established or professional.
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society > trade and finance > trader > [noun] > petty or sordid
broker1393
hucker14..
huckster1556
trucker1598
hucksterer1724
truckster1843
trade rat1876
grey marketeer1942
grey marketer1943
cowboy1972
society > occupation and work > worker > worker according to manner of working > [noun] > corrupt or unscrupulous
place-monger1718
jobber1739
jobman1741
seductionist1817
operator1828
careerist1917
ghost payroller1952
cowboy1972
1972 Times 9 May 20/7 The unscrupulous ‘cowboys’ in our business..are a constant menace with their cut price low quality job quotations.
1977 Listener 17 Mar. 351/3 In the next decade, as the rich seams of double glazing, wall coating and so on get worked out, it is likely that the cowboys will move into quite new areas.
1982 Times 30 Oct. 416 Westminster City Council has been…licensing traders in key tourist spots in the hope of eliminating the ‘cowboys’.
1985 Punch 23 Jan. 24/2 I started by ringing a few cowboys through the Yellow Pages, just to check on prices.
2020 @WirralSquirrel8 2 Nov. in twitter.com (accessed 5 July 2020) They gave the contract to a bunch of cowboys who botched the job.
b. In extended use: any person deemed to lack the competence, skills, etc., required to carry out a task, duty, etc.; one who is incompetent or unprofessional.Difficult to distinguish from sense 5 in certain contexts.
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1982 Times 18 Jan. 22/2 This rally seems to be run by a bunch of cowboys.
1987 Campaign (Nexis) 6 Feb. There is general ignorance or reserve about what telemarketing can do because the industry has been thought of as a load of cowboys.
2006 Daily Post (N. Wales) (Nexis) 2 Oct. (Mersey ed.) (News section) 8 I thought it would just be a bunch of cowboys. But the people in the TA are professional people.
9. Irish English. The ring ouzel, Turdus torquatus. Obsolete.Chiefly in lists of alternative names for the bird.
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1813 Catal. Nat. Hist. in Mus. Dublin Soc. 16/3 (table) Torquatus Ring Ouzel, called in Ireland the Cowboy.
1853 J. J. Watters Nat. Hist. Birds Ireland 38 Occasionally, after singing, he utters that loud, clear whistle which has obtained him the complementary appellation of ‘cowboy’ and ‘whistler,’ by which names it is well known upon the Wicklow mountains.
1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 8 Ditch blackie (East Lothian). Cowboy (Tipperary).
1905 A. R. Forbes Gaelic Names Beasts 305 Blackbird-chacker or smith; Cowboy, crag ouzel; Dipper.
IV. Other extended uses.
10. U.S. slang. A king in a pack of playing cards, esp. in the game of poker.
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society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > card or cards > [noun] > picture-card > king
king1563
cowboy1951
1951 Amer. Speech 26 98/1 The terms in the following glossary are those used by poker players in the Western part of the United States... Cowboys. Kings.
1975 Z. Grant Survivors vi. 98 My first four cards were two queens and two kings... I said, ‘Watch out. I got a boat. Cowboys over ladies.’
2008 M. Frankel Hats & Eyeglasses (2009) iv. 52 I am completely thrown by their terminology: they remark how they had ‘ladies’, or ‘a pair of cowboys’, or ‘three bullets’... Michael..explains that it's shorthand for queens, kings, and aces.
Phrases
Cowboys and Indians and variants: (the name of) a children's game in which the participants pretend to be cowboys and North American Indians and act out imagined battles between them.In quot. 1887 referring to children pretending to be cowboys and North American Indians while ambushing passers-by as a game.
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society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > children's game > other children's games > [noun] > game of make-believe > specific
Indian1834
mothers and fathers1903
Cowboys and Indians1916
cops and robbers1938
1887 N.Y. Herald 21 Feb. 9/1 A Chinaman..was passing through City Hall Park..yesterday afternoon when a mixed lot of ‘cowboys and Injuns’ swooped down upon him.]
1916 N. Douglas London Street Games 120 They get some games out of the cinematograph, by the way, such as Cowboys—Indians.
1949 Chicago Tribune 17 July (Comics) 4 We'll play cowboys and Indians.
1969 I. Opie & P. Opie Children's Games 4 Each child's attitude is..changing from the ritualistic to the romantic (i.e. the free-ranging games, ‘Hide and Seek’, ‘Cowboys and Indians’), and from the romantic to the severely competitive.
2014 MailOnline (Nexis) 6 Nov. They'll be stopping children playing Cowboys and Indians next.
Compounds
C1. In sense 2b.
a. General use as a modifier, as in cowboy culture, cowboy ranch, etc.
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1878 Sidney (Nebraska) Tel. 21 Sept. The rumor of the impending Indian trouble..has been pretty thoroughly discussed in every ranch and cow-boy camp in Nebraska.
1940 Arizona: State Guide (Federal Writers' Project) 72 That distinctively western entertainment, the rodeo, was originally an exhibition of cowboy skill in the regular activities of cattle ranch and range.
1982 Globe & Mail (Canada) (Nexis) 20 Apr. We might see the end of the old-style cowboy ranch.
1995 Maxim July 77 The site of the shoot-out at the OK Corral, the defining drama of the cowboy legend where Wyatt Earp and John ‘Doc’ Holliday faced down and shot the Clanton boys.
2016 Daily Texan (Univ. Texas, Austin) (Nexis) 11 Mar. (Opinion section) 1 To many, Texas is synonymous with cowboy culture but that does not represent the home that I recognize.
b. As a modifier, designating clothing or equipment worn or used by cowboys, or a costume, toy, fashion item, etc., resembling this, as in cowboy gun, cowboy outfit, etc.Recorded earliest in cowboy saddle n.
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1880 Rocky Mountain News (Denver) 30 Sept. 5/1 In the..display..are found..all styles of men's saddles, from the light riding to the heavy cowboy saddle.
1882 Daily Independent (Helena, Montana) 5 Dec. A complete cowboy outfit, consisting of a stock saddle.., bridle, spurs, reata, hackamore and quirt.
1937 Washington Post 5 Oct. 14/4 A recently imported British actor..surveyed Buck's cowboy duds and made a supercilious remark about the ‘the barbaric finery of the West’.
1976 Times 30 Mar. 14/4 Denver's magnetic stage charm, all owl glasses, blond hair and cowboy shirt.
1989 M. C. Smith Polar Star iii. xxx. 368 All Arkady could see of Ridley's weapon was the cylinder of a large revolver, a cowboy gun.
2019 Independent (Nexis) 18 Oct. (Features section) They perform the song at a dive bar while dressed in some excellent cowboy outfits.
c. As a modifier, designating an art form reflecting or celebrating the lifestyle of a cowboy, or a creator of such art, as in cowboy poet, cowboy music, etc.
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1883 Times (Philadelphia) 13 Oct. 6/2 William Y. Buttes, the Cowboy Poet.
1895 Art Amateur May 160/1 Mr Reaugh is a ‘cowboy artist’... most [of his paintings] are straightforward transcripts of life on the plains.
1936 Amer. Mag. Art Jan. 52/1 A number of galleries will be reserved for American art of today... There will be a one-man room of the work of Frederic Remington, famed cowboy artist, including paintings, drawings, and bronzes.
1982 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 26 Apr. There are more things produced in Austin than longhaired cowboy music.
2001 Cape Times 16 May 6/6 Cowboy poetry is intended to be recited, in ballads memorised on the hoof and then performed around a campfire, or over a saloon bar.
2020 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 18 May If anyone asks, your favorite artist is the Great Falls cowboy painter Charlie Russell.
d. As a modifier, designating a film, novel, etc., about or featuring a cowboy or cowboys, usually depicting life as imagined to be typical of the western United States in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (see western n.2 4), as in cowboy film, cowboy romance, etc.; (also) designating an actor, novelist, etc., who works in this genre.
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1884 22nd Ann. Rep. State Board Agric. Michigan, Oct. 1882—Sept. 1883 232 These boys..were instructed in such depravity by vicious literature. One called himself ‘Peck's Bad Boy’, another had a ‘Cowboy story’ on his person.
1907 Bisbee (Arizona) Daily Rev. 29 Jan. 7/2 (headline) Cowboy film makes hit.
1916 Ogden (Utah) Standard 5 Feb. (Mag.) Miss Little specializes in Western roles; she is ‘Queen of the cow-boy movies’.
1937 Discovery Feb. 43/2 A famous cowboy actor rode his horse round an arena.
1990 USA Today (Nexis) 21 Nov. (Final ed.) 1 c Zanesville, about 50 miles east of Columbus, is known as the birthplace of cowboy novelist Zane Grey.
2021 Goulburn (New S. Wales) Post (Internet ed.) (Nexis) 5 Aug. This twisted ‘cowboy romance’ reunites Eddie and May who rediscover the surprising depths of their past conflicts.
e. As a modifier, designating food or drink consumed by or associated with cowboys, esp. when prepared and cooked using basic ingredients and implements, or using ingredients and flavourings associated with the western United States. Cf. cowboy caviar n., cowboy coffee n.
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1907 Lake County Times (Hammond, Indiana) 12 Oct. (Evening ed.) 2/4 The following menu was served: Cowboy stew with accompaniment.
1917 Overland Monthly Oct. 350/1 Supper consisted of beans, chili-concarne, tortillas and jerked meat that the vaqueros called cowboy steak.
1942 Gourmet June 7//3 The natural complement for son-of-a-gun is cowboy beans, which are pinto beans boiled with ‘anything handy chunked in’.
2003 Port Arthur (Texas) News 2 Apr. 3 a/4 The cowboy soup, a mixture of minestrone, Rotel tomatoes, and Ranch Style Beans, is her current favourite.
C2. In sense 5.
a. As a modifier, designating an approach to politics, finance, etc., which is risky, reckless, aggressive, or characterized by unethical or illegal practices, as in cowboy capitalism, cowboy diplomacy, etc.In early use frequently with allusion to sense 2b.
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1885 Daily Brit. Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 6 Sept. He..scooped in the police commissioner and three of his mounted bullies, at the same time sending a telegram..to complain of the cowboy tactics of Johnston.
1894 Daily Morning News (Savannah, Georgia) 1 July 6/4 Populism in Texas. Cowboy politics affords reporters many opportunities.
1975 N.Y. Times 18 May 16/8 We are sick of the cowboy politics of former president Mr Johnson.
1998 Prospect Mar. 55/2 Without the rule of law, the businessmen would be vulnerable to the corrupt, strong-arm tactics which prevail in cowboy capitalism.
2006 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 26 Oct. 34/3 When we practised cowboy diplomacy and invaded Iraq we alienated our allies and aided our enemies.
b. As a modifier, designating a man who is rash, reckless, violent, aggressive, or unrestrained, as in cowboy driver, cowboy politician, etc.In early use frequently with allusion to sense 2b.
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1885 Warren (Pa.) Ledger 2 Oct. All cowboy politicians who shake hands with iron grips.
1933 Pittsburgh Courier 30 Sept. ii. 3 (headline) Charges Chi cowboy taxi driver with robbery.
1964 Washington Post 18 Oct. a12/1 Known to Rhodesians as the ‘cowboy government’, the Premier Ian Smith's regime is faulted by diplomats here for clumsiness, inefficiency and disregard for law.
1985 Financial Post (Toronto) (Nexis) 10 Aug. ii. 15 The hard-drinking, cigar-chewing cowboy capitalists who populate the oil industry.
2013 @ell_dog_92 7 Sept. in twitter.com (accessed 5 July 2021) Be careful on the roads today as they are full of cowboy drivers putting our premiums right through the roof!
C3. As a modifier (in sense 8), designating an unscrupulous, unregulated, or unqualified trader, as in cowboy builder, cowboy tradesman, etc.; (also, in extended use) designating any incompetent or unprofessional person.
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1973 Times 11 May 26/6 He does not mention the decline in site discipline or control consequent upon self-employment, nor the growth in cowboy employers as well as employees.
1978 Daily Tel. 22 Aug. 2/1 Proposals for legislation to improve standards of electrical installation and to squeeze ‘cowboy’ contractors out of the industry are to be presented to the Government.
1980 Observer 24 Feb. 5/1 The British authorities have still failed to trace either the aircraft or its ‘cowboy’ crew.
1984 Guardian (Nexis) 16 Oct. This growth in DIY, and the emergence of ‘cowboy’ builders who do repair and renovation work for cash, could have severe consequences for existing construction businesses.
2004 P. Hymers New Home Builder v. 78 The local press can be full of ‘cowboy tradesmen’ advertizing their unique services.
C4.
cowboy action shooting n. a type of competitive shooting sport in which participants use replica firearms and wear clothing typical of the mid to late 19th cent. in the western regions of the United States, esp. that associated with cattle ranching culture.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > competitive shooting > [noun] > types of match or contest
turkey-shoot1845
pool1860
tie-shot1887
shoot-off1892
tie-shooting1902
miss-and-out1903
tie-shoot1909
cowboy action shooting1989
1989 Desert Sun (Palm Springs, Calif.) 8 Sept. d 1/3 [The] founders..thought of the idea while watching an old Saturday morning Western on television... Cowboy action shooting is somewhere between what really happened and the silver screen on Saturday mornings.
2020 @LargeAndrew 5 Sept. in twitter.com (accessed 5 Feb. 2021) Spent a great day doing some cowboy action shooting and cigar smoking.
cowboy boot n. a boot extending to mid-calf of a style worn by and associated with cowboys, typically made of cowhide or synthetic leather, and having a moderately high, square heel and decorative stitching or tooling; cf. cowgirl boot n. at cowgirl n. Compounds 2b.
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1884 Glendive (Montana Territory) Times 28 June (advt.) Cowboy boots at Lesher's.
1988 C. Fisher in D. Helwig & M. Helwig Coming Attractions 10 Got any glasses, Warren asks, pulling a mickey of rye out from the top of his cowboy boot.
2000 New Yorker 31 Jan. 32/3 He generally wears cowboy boots, jeans, a Western shirt, a bolo tie, and a cowboy hat.
cowboy-booted adj. wearing cowboy boots.
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1932 Time 30 May 24/3 Inside the coach, holding tight, sat California's cowboy-booted Governor.
2018 Evening Standard (Nexis) 19 Oct. (News section) 35 The cowboy-booted candidate rallied a crowd of young Republicans.
cowboy caviar n. U.S. humorous (a) the testicles of a calf, sheep, or other animal, eaten as a delicacy; (b) any of various dishes, condiments, etc., with a main ingredient of beans.
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1984 P. Zarzyski Make-up of Ice 16 And me, a real greenhorn to this cowboy caviar—I take to them like a pup to a hoof paring.
1985 Joplin (Missouri) Globe 4 Sept. 9 b/4 ‘What's Cowboy Caviar?’ (An eggplant hors d'oeuvre that has nothing to do with fish eggs.)
2011 Nashua (New Hampsh.) Tel. 5 July 5/1 Remind me to talk to you about eating Rocky Mountain Oysters..a few year ago... I did learn a few other names for them, including Montana Tendergroins and Cowboy Caviar.
2021 @dupweeeee 2 Jan. in twitter.com (accessed 3 Feb. 2021) Love black eyed peas. Always add them to my cowboy caviar.
cowboy coffee n. strong, black coffee prepared by boiling coffee grounds with water in a pot and then allowing the grounds to settle at the bottom of the pot.
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the world > food and drink > drink > coffee > [noun] > coffee by type of preparation
real coffee1877
drip coffee1895
cowboy coffee1915
café-filtre1922
caffè espresso1933
perc1936
Nescafé1938
espresso1945
instant1954
Nescaff1962
cafe Americano1964
filtre1966
Nes1967
Americano1973
espresso macchiato1976
caffè ristretto1977
ristretto1980
espresso ristretto1983
half-caf1990
1915 Daily Fayetteville (Arkansas) Democrat 30 June 1lb. package [printed packake] Cowboy Coffee.
1924 Zanesville (Ohio) Signal 12 Feb. 9/1 Until now the recipe for cowboy coffee has been closely guarded.
1975 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 15 Dec. 1/1 A civil servant..offering his visitors mugs of ‘cowboy coffee’—a brew he boils up himself and that like the man, and unlike the office, is thick, dark and real.
2014 A. Barnosky Dodging Extinction v. 79 We'd dropped our packs off at the usual camping spot, set up our tents, thrown a couple of steaks on the fire, and topped off the meal with some cowboy coffee.
cowboy country n. (in North America, esp. the western regions of the United States) a land or territory controlled or inhabited by cowboys; a place associated with cowboys or the rearing of cattle.
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1882 Eureka (Nevada) Daily Sentinel 20 Oct. (headline) The bonanza king safely piloted through cowboy country.
1974 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 20 July 35/1 But the scenery changes from golden grain fields to low, brown hills and we are into cowboy country, the short grass lands of Saskatchewan where cattle graze on fescue and sage.
2019 Daily Star (Nexis) 12 Oct. (National ed.) 15 With its wide-open prairies, Montana is prime cowboy country.
cowboy-dudded adj. rare dressed as or like a cowboy.
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1957 J. Kerouac On the Road i. v. 33 All the cowboy-dudded tourists and oilmen and ranchers.
1995 Calgary (Alberta) Herald (Nexis) 13 July c2 Swooping his cowboy-dudded son up into his arms.
cowboy hat n. a high-crowned, broad-brimmed hat of a style worn by and associated with cowboys, usually being made of felt; cf. cowgirl hat n. at cowgirl n. Compounds 2b.
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1882 National Police Gaz. (U.S.) 11 Feb. 7/1 She freely strutted..through the hills in the same attire as the rest of them: wearing a ‘cow-boy hat’.
1971 J. Lennon in J. Wenner Lennon Remembers (1972) 182 The first guitar I ever saw..belonged to a guy in a cowboy suit in a province of Liverpool, with stars, and a cowboy hat and a big dobro.
2015 D. Arnold Mosquitoland xiv. 111 A couple wearing matching cowboy hats exits Jane's Diner.
cowboy-hatted adj. wearing a cowboy hat.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > wearing clothing > [adjective] > wearing headgear > wearing a hat > types of
flat-headed1667
straw-hattedc1730
beavered1742
cocked-hatted1821
slouch-hatted1826
high-hatted1858
plug-hatted1869
sun-helmeted1886
pot-hatted1888
sou'-westered1891
cowboy-hatted1896
sombreroed1899
top hat1902
picture-hatted1906
bowler-hatted1909
sailor-hatted1909
tile-hatted1924
Stetsoned1935
trilbied1966
trilby-hatted1975
1896 The Dalles (Oregon) Times-Mountaineer 22 Feb. A long-haired, cow-boy-hatted fraud named Rice..is in jail again.
1940 Evening Star (Washington, D.C.) 19 June b 1/1 The dozen orange-shirted, cowboy-hatted Arizonans from Phoenix hit town yesterday with six-shooters attached.
2019 A. Bobrow-Strain Death & Life Aida Hernandez xxi. 222 Rows of bowed, sunburned, white-haired, and cowboy-hatted heads faced her.
cowboy saddle n. a saddle of a type used by cowboys, having a deep seat, high pommel and cantle, prominent horn, and broad stirrups; = western saddle n. at western adj., n.2, and adv. Compounds 3.
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1880 Rocky Mountain News (Denver) 30 Sept. 5/1 In the..display..are found..all styles of men's saddles, from the light riding to the heavy cowboy saddle.
2016 Surrey Mirror (Nexis) 28 Jan. 21 She said the cowboy saddle weighed from 45 to 60 pounds.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2022).
cowboyv.
/ˈkaʊbɔɪ/, U.S. /ˈkaʊˌbɔɪ/ North American.
1. intransitive. colloquial. To work as a cowboy. Also occasionally (and in earliest use) transitive with it.
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1888 Hutchinson (Kansas) Daily News 9 Nov. Fred Forsha is cowboying it down on the ranch.
1899 Los Angeles Times 4 June (Mag.) 14/1 Overtaken sometimes by sudden necessity, he has cowboyed it in the Southwest.
1904 Los Angeles Times 16 June ii. 4/6 Their ranches adjoined one another in North Dakota back in the early '80's, when the President was cowboying.
1925 W. James Drifting Cowboy vi. 174 How's the chances of getting a job ‘cowboying’ on this ranch?
1965 P. St. Pierre Boss Namko Drive (1970) 39 Was a time years ago, I cowboyed for the greatest cowman of them all.
2001 Arizona Highways Sept. 14/1 Hale..has cowboyed most of his life.
2. slang or colloquial.
a. intransitive. To drive a vehicle in a reckless or irresponsible manner. Also transitive: to drive (a vehicle) recklessly or irresponsibly. Cf. cowboy n. 5b.
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1933 Dunkirk (N.Y.) Evening Observer 14 Nov. 4/6 So we pinched a car. We cowboyed in this flivver and picked out a drugstore. It was a cinch. We just bluffed the guy and got a rod and $2.87.
1938 N.Y. Times 17 Oct. 15/3 The youths..were stopped by State Trooper Alton W. Geran, who accused them of ‘cowboying’ on their machines.
1951 Progress (Clearfield, Pa.) 22 Sept. 1/7 Two young men were picked up..for ‘cowboying’ their cars on borough streets.
1989 St. Petersburg (Florida) Times (Nexis) 8 Jan. 1 I heard tires screeching, and thought someone's out there cowboying—they're going to hit my car.
b. intransitive and transitive with it. To commit violent or daring crimes, esp. murder or armed robbery, in a hot-headed, ruthless, or unrestrained manner. Also transitive: to murder (someone) in a such a manner; to gun down. Cf. cowboy n. 5a.
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1941 N. Algren in Southern Rev. Spring 720 You were out cowboyin' with Benkowski.
1946 Daily News (N.Y.) 8 June 6/2 He said Mirandi told him Boccia and Gallo ‘had to be killed even if we had to cowboy them’. Asked to explain the expression, he said: ‘That means we were to kill them any place we found them, even if it was in the middle of Broadway’.
1954 C. Chessman Cell 2456 Death Row xx. 175 ‘Hell,’ you comment drily, ‘it's getting so an honest bandit hasn't got a chance any more.’ So you cowboy it; you rob everything and anything in the way of business establishments.
1959 W. S. Burroughs Naked Lunch 198 The Gimp, cowboyed in the Waldorf, Gives Birth To A Litter Of Rats.
1998 G. P. Pelecanos Sweet Forever x. 94 Tutt would cowboy it without thought if anything went down.
Phrasal verbs
to cowboy up
intransitive. colloquial. To make a determined effort to overcome an obstacle; to demonstrate courage or toughness when faced with a difficult situation. Frequently in imperative. Cf. to man up 2 at man v. Phrasal verbs.
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the mind > emotion > courage > manliness > behave manfully [verb (intransitive)]
to be man enough1799
to play up?1888
to cowboy up1973
to grow a pair1987
to man up1996
1973 Lovington (New Mexico) Daily Leader 16 May 22/3 Cowboy up. Prepare oneself to do a difficult to impossible task.
1985 Colorado Springs Gaz. Tel. 20 Oct. cc 9/4 How do you handle it [sc. the pressure]? You just cowboy up and go out there and do the best you can.
2008 A. Proulx in New Yorker 9 June 82/1 But a man, she thought, was supposed to endure pain, cowboy up, and not bitch about it all day long.
2021 @Mwheel9 5 Feb. in twitter.com (accessed 8 Feb. 2021) OMG! Are you kidding me? Children in Montana go outside with nothing but T shirts on in that temperature. Cowboy up Florida! Enjoy it!
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2022).
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