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

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

From Salon • Nov. 21, 2020

If you happen to have a chicken carcass or a hambone on hand?

From Slate • Dec. 26, 2019

Besides what actor worth his hambone wouldn’t want to have a chance to become a comic-book Hitler?

From New York Times • Nov. 15, 2018

For Norvell, it is also important to recognize that African-Americans in the northeast forged traditions of their own, though not as well known as Southern traditions such as banjo playing and juba, a dance style also called hambone.

From Reuters • May 29, 2015

Their bodies, from throat to ankle, were hidden by black cloaks which bore a long silver cross on the left breast and each neck was finished off with a hambone frill.

From "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding

Related Words

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