knockabout

American  

[nok-uh-bout] / ˈnɒk əˌbaʊt /

noun

1. Nautical. any of various fore-and-aft-rigged sailing vessels having a single jib bent to a stay from the stemhead, no bowsprit being used: usually rigged as a sloop.

2. something designed or suitable for rough or casual use, as a sturdy jacket, a secondhand car, etc.

3. a slapstick comedian or comedy.

4. Australian. an itinerant farm hand or ranch hand; an itinerant handyman.

5. British Archaic. wanderer.

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adjective

1. suitable for rough use, as a garment.

   a knockabout jacket and jeans.

2. characterized by knocking about; rough; boisterous.

3. slapstick.

   knockabout comedy.

4. shiftless; aimless.

   a knockabout kind of person.

Etymology

Origin of knockabout

First recorded in 1875–80; noun, adj. use of verb phrase knock about

Example Sentences

The cause was cancer, said Tony Bennett, a friend of Mr. O’Neill’s and the founder of Knockabout Comics in London, which publishes international editions of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

From New York Times • Nov. 12, 2022

Knockabout Comics will publish the book in England.

From New York Times • Mar. 17, 2015

Hopkins Co. offers Episcopalians a "Once-a-Year Opportunity�only 159 Poplin Knockabout Cassocks Reduced to $12," and Cox Sons & Vining advertises a "Utility Anglican Cassock" for $22.50.

From Time Magazine Archive