hambone

American  

[ham-bohn] / ˈhæmˌboʊn /

noun

1. Theater.

   1. (especially in minstrel shows and vaudeville) a performer made up in blackface and using a stereotyped Black dialect.

   2. an unskilled, overeager, or artless actor, or any performer who overacts.

2. juba.

3. Bowling Slang. four consecutive strikes.

4. Usually ham bone a bone in a hog's ham.

   We always use the leftover ham bone to make pea soup.

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Etymology

Origin of hambone

First recorded in 1850–55; ham ¹ + bone; ham ²

Example Sentences

Growing up on a farm in Dry Creek, a small community west of Port Angeles, Haggerty had always been a bit of a “hambone.”

From Seattle Times

If you plunk the hambone into a pot of water with a halved onion and boil it for a couple of hours, you’ll be rewarded with a deep, sultry broth.

From New York Times

But “Hola Amigo,” a 10-track digital album dedicated to bridging cultural divides, also offers standouts like “Keep It Up,” a rock anthem featuring the Sugar Free Allstars, and “Hambone,” which turns that nursery tune into a rapped Black Lives Matter plea.

From New York Times

He likes to get our hands involved whenever he can, inducing reflexive claps and snaps — like during “Hambone Cappuccino,” the curtain-raising track on “Wuddaji” where snapping fingers punctuate a fussy keyboard phrase, first as an instructional gesture and then as a tacit acknowledgment of your presence.

From Washington Post

Nine years after that, Ed called me up one day and asked, "You still do hambone?"

From Salon

Related Words

• artist
• character
• clown
• comedian
• entertainer
• performer
• player
• star
• villain