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cowboy

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.

cowboy

Horseman skilled at handling cattle in the U.S. West. From c. 1820, cowboys were employed in small numbers on Texas ranches, where they had learned the skills of the vaquero (Spanish: “cowboy”). After the Civil War, their numbers rapidly multiplied as cattle raising evolved into a lucrative industry throughout the western territories. Cowboys rounded up and branded the cattle, kept watch over the herd, and drove those ready for market to railroad towns. As the agricultural frontier moved west, the open range was transformed into farms, and by 1890 cowboys had been forced to settle on ranches. The romance of their image lived on in U.S. folklore and through movies and television.

cowboy
a conventional character of Wild West folklore, films, etc., esp one involved in fighting Indians
cowboy - [Sun, from William Gibson's cyberpunk SF] Synonym for hacker. It is reported that at Sun this word is often said with reverence.
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The officer who rode like a cowboy reflected for an instant.
The Red Badge of Courage by Crane, Stephen View in context
Billy sang a lugubrious song of many stanzas about a cowboy, the refrain of which was, "Bury me out on the lone pr-rairie.
The Valley of the Moon by London, Jack View in context
Lunn's, whose pretty daughter Sally had been an early flame of his, and, when the church-goers were at a safe distance, to abstract the guineas from their wooden box and slip them into a small canvas bag--nothing easier than to call to the cowboy that he was going, and tell him to keep an eye on the house for fear of Sunday tramps.
Brother Jacob by Eliot, George View in context
 
 
 
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