knockabout
UK /ˈnɒk.əˌbaʊt/ · US /ˈnɑk.əˌbaʊt/ adjective, noun
Forms knockabouts
- adjective Boisterous
- adjective Suitable for rough use. “I have a knockabout cello for non-concert gigs.”
- noun Clothing suitable for rough use.
- noun A worker habitually engaged in casual employment.
- noun A person living in rough, violent conditions.
- noun (circus) A tumbler.
- noun (entertainment) A slapstick comedian or comedy.
- noun (sailing) A small sailboat lacking a bowsprit, of a type found primarily in the Massachusetts area. “We sailed our knockabout around Cape Cod.”
- noun (sports, informal) An act of playing a sport casually or informally. “The kids had a knockabout with a football in the backyard.”
Synonyms
Etymology
Deverbal from knock about.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Marked by knocking about or roughness.
- adjective Of noisy and violent character. [Theat. Slang]
- noun A small yacht, generally from fifteen to twenty-five feet in length, having a mainsail and a jib. All knockabouts have ballast and either a keel or centerboard. The original type was twenty-one feet in length. The next larger type is called a raceabout.
- noun A knockabout performer or performance. [Theat. Slang]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “knockabout”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details