hobo
See also: hóbo
English edit
Etymology edit
Unknown. Possibly a contraction of ho, boy or the dialectal English term hawbuck (“lout, clumsy fellow, country bumpkin”).
Pronunciation edit
enPR: hō'bō
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈhəʊ.bəʊ/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈhoʊ.boʊ/
- (General Australian) IPA(key): /ˈhəʉ.bəʉ/
- Rhymes: -əʊbəʊ
Noun edit
- (Canada, US) A wandering homeless person, especially (historical) one illegally travelling by rail or (derogatory) a penniless, unemployed bum.
- (Canada, US) Any migratory laborer, whether homeless or not.
- 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 edit
- Often used attributively, as if an adjective. For example, "hobo stew", "he was leading a hobo life."
- Although informal usage considers hobo synonymous with bum, self-proclaimed hobos sometimes distinguish themselves as migrant workers rather than unemployed bums.[1]
Synonyms edit
- See also Thesaurus:vagabond
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
homeless person
|
tramp, vagabond; bum
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migratory worker
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
Verb edit
hobo (third-person singular simple present hobos, present participle hoboing, simple past and past participle hoboed)
- (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 edit
- ^ Tales of the Iron Road: My Life As King of the Hobos.
Anagrams edit
Afrikaans edit
Etymology edit
From Dutch hobo, from French hautbois.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
Dutch edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French hautbois, from Middle French [Term?].
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
hobo m (plural hobo's, diminutive hobootje n)
- oboe (woodwind)
Derived terms edit
Japanese edit
Romanization edit
hobo
Categories:
- English terms with unknown etymologies
- English 2-syllable words
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- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/əʊbəʊ
- Rhymes:English/əʊbəʊ/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- Canadian English
- American English
- English terms with historical senses
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- English intransitive verbs
- en:People
- Afrikaans terms inherited from Dutch
- Afrikaans terms derived from Dutch
- Afrikaans terms derived from French
- Afrikaans terms with IPA pronunciation
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- Afrikaans lemmas
- Afrikaans nouns
- Dutch terms borrowed from French
- Dutch terms derived from French
- Dutch terms derived from Middle French
- Dutch terms with IPA pronunciation
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- Rhymes:Dutch/oː
- Dutch lemmas
- Dutch nouns
- Dutch nouns with plural in -s
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