Jayhawker
Americannoun
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a native or inhabitant of Kansas (used as a nickname).
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(sometimes lowercase) a plundering marauder, especially one of the antislavery guerrillas in Kansas, Missouri, and other border states before and during the Civil War.
Etymology
Origin of Jayhawker
An Americanism dating back to 1855–60; of uncertain origin
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.
“Grass there is scarce, wood there is none,” wrote Jayhawker Sheldon Young of the landscape.
From National Geographic ● Jul. 25, 2023
Prior to finding himself advancing toward Germany near the end of World War II, Mr. Dole had been a lifelong Jayhawker, recruited to Kansas University by the legendary basketball coach Phog Allen.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 5, 2021
There were some others connected more or less with the party at some part of the trip, but not coming in with the Jayhawker organization.
From Death Valley in '49 by William Lewis Manly
Phillipps, as he told me himself, was a Jayhawker who had left the farm in Kansas and had gone to sea for two years.
From Through the Grand Canyon from Wyoming to Mexico by E. L. (Ellsworth Leonardson) Kolb
"It all depends on the Jayhawker," says he.
From Side-stepping with Shorty by Sewell Ford
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
