Robinson Crusoe

[ kroo-soh ]

noun

1. (in a novel by Defoe) a mariner of York who is shipwrecked and lives adventurously for years on a small island.
2. (italics) the novel itself (1719).

Robinson Crusoe

noun

1. the hero of Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe (1719), who survived being shipwrecked on a desert island

Robinson Crusoe

1. (1719) A novel by the English author Daniel Defoe. Robinson Crusoe, an English sailor, is shipwrecked and cast ashore alone on an uninhabited island. With great ingenuity and energy, Crusoe sets out to civilize his surroundings: he clothes himself, grows crops, and builds and furnishes a house. Eventually, he has the company of his servant, Friday , a man he has saved from cannibals. Crusoe is finally rescued after spending twenty-eight years on the island.

Notes

Robinson Crusoe has come to symbolize a person who has the strength and resourcefulness to thrive in isolation.

Example Sentences

Actually, I liked Robinson Crusoe, Black Beauty, the usual things.

From The Daily Beast

We were never going to be romantic Robinson Crusoe; it was this whole other thing.

From The Daily Beast

Tarzan and Robinson Crusoe were favorites and accompanying Lewis & Clark a dream.

From The Daily Beast

From Robinson Crusoe to Henry Ford on Jews, a new book peeks inside Hitler's private library.

From The Daily Beast

Robinson Crusoe lost a day in his illness: I have lost a faculty, for which loss Heaven be praised!'

From Project Gutenberg

Then I would imagine myself all alone on the ocean, and Robinson Crusoe was very real to me.

From Project Gutenberg

It was surely right of Robinson Crusoe to make his solitary cave look as smart as possible.

From Project Gutenberg

I was spoken of as a man of restless spirit and of romantic proclivities, and I was gazed upon as some modern Robinson Crusoe.

From Project Gutenberg

I fancied that I was Robinson Crusoe: my parrot dead, and my dog run away.

From Project Gutenberg