roughneck

noun

No English definition recorded for this entry.

Pronunciation: /ˈɹʌfˌnɛk/

Etymology: From rough + neck, originally "someone who works a manual labour job".

A labourer on an oil rig or in the oilpatch, either skilled or semiskilled.
“This first ship had a small geophysical-type drilling rig mounted over the side of the ship with a steel grid runround for the roughnecks, who stood in knee-deep water while making connections or pulling the drill string.”
“As for the minerals, there has been a good deal of drilling along the big river; trucks and roughnecks no longer garner any notice.”
A dirty or low-paid worker, a labourer; an ironworker in an ironworks or a steelworker in a steelworks.
Someone with rough manners; a rowdy or uncouth person.
“LaTisha has long wanted to show Carole sheʼs not the roughneck she used to be, the roughneck who wasnʼt good enough to be her friend.”

Etymology: From rough + neck, originally "someone who works a manual labour job".

To work as a laborer on an oil rig.
“There was a time not long ago when this region appeared as some enduring mystification, its citizenry best known for roughnecking on the North Slope […]”