jackeroo

American  

[jak-uh-roo] / ˌdʒæk əˈru /

Or jackaroo

noun

jackeroos plural

1. an inexperienced person working as an apprentice on a sheep ranch.

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verb (used without object)

jackerooed, jackerooing

1. to work as an apprentice on a sheep ranch.

jackeroo British  

/ ˌdʒækəˈruː /

noun

1. informal a young male management trainee on a sheep or cattle station

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• jackeroos
  plural

Etymology

Origin of jackeroo

1875–80; jack ¹ + (kang)aroo; cf. -eroo

Example Sentences

In 1964, he signed up as a ranch hand, known as a jackeroo, after embellishing his abilities on horseback, and was sent to the Kimberley, a vast region in northwestern Australia.

From Washington Post • Apr. 12, 2023

The trek doesn’t go quite as planned, and Lola takes a job as a jackeroo — the term is explained — at the winery’s nearby sheep farm.

From New York Times • May 18, 2022

He was a groom with a place at his master's table; he was a jackeroo who introduced station life into a town.

From Stingaree by Hornung, E. W. (Ernest William)

At this yearly festival every owner, manager, jackeroo and rouseabout, within a hundred miles of the course, makes it a point of honour to be present.

From A Crime of the Under-seas by Boothby, Guy Newell

The jackeroo had appeared on the scene from his own room, to which his sensitive soul ever banished him betimes.

From The Shadow of a Man by Hornung, E. W. (Ernest William)