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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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

The jackeroo was sweeping the horizon for pure inexplicable delight in its dirty greens and yellows; but had quite forgotten that he ought already to have been scouring it for sheep.

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

Do you think I'm a jackeroo, or what?

From Colonial Born A tale of the Queensland bush by Spence, Percy F. S. (Percy Frederick Seaton)

The words of the jackeroo the night before had struck home.

From My Brilliant Career by Franklin, Miles