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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.


Etymology

Origin of hambone

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

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.

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

From Slate • Dec. 26, 2019

Hopkins, a bit of a historic hambone himself, cedes all the big gestures to Pryce and stealthily does some of his craftiest acting in years.

From New York Times • Nov. 26, 2019

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

This is an immense improvement, to my taste, over Affleck’s hambone stud muffin turn in “The Town,” which curdled an otherwise capable crime-romance.

From Salon • Oct. 11, 2012

“You hambone, this ain’t war, this is water guns.”

From "Crash" by Jerry Spinelli

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