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Synonyms

cowpuncher

American  
[kou-puhn-cher] / ˈkaʊˌpʌn tʃər /

noun

  1. a cowboy or cowgirl.


cowpuncher British  
/ ˈkaʊˌpəʊk, ˈkaʊˌpʌntʃə /

noun

  1. informal words for cowboy

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of cowpuncher

1875–80; cow 1 + puncher ( see punch 1, -er 1)

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.

After all, it is a snappy cowpuncher variation on Woody Guthrie’s “Dusty Old Dust/So Long It’s Been Good to Know Yuh” with Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, the folk legend’s old musical partner, singing along.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 2, 2026

He is both corrupt and pure, a dynastic potentate in a helicopter and a solitary cowpuncher in the saddle.

From The New Yorker • Jun. 20, 2018

Textbooks are unable to contain the man who was a civil war unto himself: Eastern aristocrat and Western cowpuncher, intellectual and pugilist, reformer and clubhouse Republican, imperialist and trustbuster, warrior and peacemaker.

From Time Magazine Archive

Henry Blanton is an alias for the 40-year-old cowpuncher whom Kramer selected to sit for her portrait of yet another vanishing American.

From Time Magazine Archive

Duke grew up to be a very good cowpuncher, however.

From Rim o' the World by Fischer, Anton Otto