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bullwhacker

American  
[bool-hwak-er, -wak-] / ˈbʊlˌʰwæk ər, -ˌwæk- /

noun

Western U.S.
  1. (especially in the early 19th century) the driver of a team of oxen.


Etymology

Origin of bullwhacker

An Americanism dating back to 1855–60; bull 1 + whacker ( def. )

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

But on the way back Stetson sold it to a St. Louis bullwhacker for $5 in gold, thereupon decided to go into business.

From Time Magazine Archive

Her father was a Missouri bullwhacker, a driver of the 16-hitch ox teams that pulled Conestoga wagons over the old Santa Fe trail.

From Time Magazine Archive

The bullwhacker gave way to the steam engine, the log drive to the railroad; then the steam engine gave way to the tractor, the railroad to the truck.

From Time Magazine Archive

In Arkansas, where he worked as a bullwhacker, he came down with malaria, which he tried to treat with a patent medicine called Orang Utan Liniment and teas brewed from rattlesnake weed.

From Time Magazine Archive

The bullwhacker drove ox teams to outlying army posts and Indian reservations far from railroads, when the pioneers were pushing our frontier west of the Missouri.

From Ox-Team Days on the Oregon Trail by Wilson, F. N. (Frederick N.)