hobo

See also: hóbo

English

Etymology

Unknown. Possibly a contraction of ho, boy, or the dialectal English term hawbuck (“lout, clumsy fellow, country bumpkin”). It could also be an abbreviation for homeless boy or homeward bound.

Pronunciation

  • enPR: hō'bō, IPA(key): /ˈhəʊ.bəʊ/
  • Rhymes: -əʊbəʊ

Noun

hobo (plural hobos or hoboes)

  1. A homeless, usually penniless person, in some way associated with a life along the rails.
  2. A migratory laborer.
  3. (pejorative) A tramp, vagabond; hence bum.
  4. A kind of large handbag.
    • 1989, Susan Ludwig, ‎Janice Steinberg, Petite Style (page 46)
      Avoid bulky styles such as duffle sacks, buckets, doctors' satchels, and hobos.

Usage notes

  • Often used attributively, as if an adjective. For example, "hobo stew", "he was leading a hobo life."
  • Hobos historically have loathed being grouped together with bums, whom they view as pure untrustworthy loafers.[1] Hobos, on the other hand, were allegedly pure "migratory workers". Whether this is a case of "no true Scotsman", or was actually the case is unknown.

Synonyms

  • See also Thesaurus:vagabond

Derived terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Verb

hobo (third-person singular simple present hobos, present participle hoboing, simple past and past participle hoboed)

  1. (intransitive, perhaps pejorative) To be a hobo, tramp, bum etc.
    Joe idly hoboed through half the country till he realized hoboing never gets you anywhere in life.

References

  1. ↑ Tales of the Iron Road: My Life As King of the Hobos

Anagrams

Dutch

Etymology

From French hautbois.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɦoːˈboː/
  • Audio(file)

Noun

hobo m (plural hobo's, diminutive hobootje n)

  1. oboe

Derived terms

  • hoboïst

Japanese

Romanization

hobo

  1. Rōmaji transcription of ほぼ
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.