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# cowboy

«cowboy» in Mova's school dictionary: **A man, especially in the western USA, who rides a horse…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a cowboy, cowboys); adjective use (cowboy builders, a cowboy hat)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A man, especially in the western USA, who rides a horse and looks after cattle on a ranch. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cowboy/#m1)

2) A character in western films and stories who rides horses, wears a wide hat and boots. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cowboy/#m2)

3) (UK, Australia, informal) A worker or company that does careless, bad or dishonest work, often to make quick money: «cowboy builders». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cowboy/#m3)

4) A person who acts in a wild, reckless way and ignores the rules. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cowboy/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In stories and films cowboys stand for the old American West, horses, cattle drives and adventure. In everyday British and Australian talk «a cowboy» is a warning: someone who will do a bad job and overcharge you. Phrases: «cowboy hat», «cowboy boots», «cowboys and Indians» (old game, now seen as unfair to Native Americans), «cowboy builder», «cowboy outfit».

### examples

- The cowboy rode his horse across the dusty plain. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cowboy/#x1)
- My little brother wore a cowboy hat to the party. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cowboy/#x2)
- Cowboys drove the cattle to the market town. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cowboy/#x3)
- Don't hire them — they're a bunch of cowboys who left our roof leaking. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cowboy/#x4)
- Some cowboy builders took the money and never finished the wall. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cowboy/#x5)
- The film was about a lonely cowboy and his dog. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cowboy/#x6)
- Stop driving like a cowboy, you'll crash! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cowboy/#x7)
- The cowboy roped the calf with a lasso. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cowboy/#x8)
- The cowboy and the Gruagach stood by the fire. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cowboy/#x9)

### note

Plural is «cowboys» (not «cowboies»). A woman who does the same work is a «cowgirl». In Australia a similar worker is a «stockman» or «jackaroo». The informal «cowboy» meaning of a bad worker is an insult, so be careful using it about real people.

### In the corpora

- [They start taking turns, and on wide bits they walk three abreast like cowboys in a film.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/478-threes-a-crowd-and-the-friend-who-picks-someone-else/3/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «cowboy» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cowboy/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.