hobo

See also Hobo

English

Etymology

Unknown. Possibly a contraction of ho, boy or the dialectal English term hawbuck (“lout, clumsy fellow, country bumpkin”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: hō'bō, IPA: /ˈhəʊ.bəʊ/, X-SAMPA: /"h@U.b@U/
• 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

Usage notes

• Often used attributively, as if an adjective. For example, "hobo stew", "he was leading a hobo life."

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:vagabond

Derived terms

• hobohemia
• hoboism
• hobo spider

Translations

homeless person

• Dutch: dakloze (nl) m, zwerver (nl) m, vagebond (nl) m, landloper (nl) m
• French: vagabond (fr) m
• Italian: senzatetto (it)

• Polish: bezdomny (pl) m, kloszard (pl) m
• Portuguese: mendigo (pt) m, mendiga (pt) f
• Russian: бомж (ru) (bomž) m , бездомный (ru) (bezdómnyj) m 

tramp, vagabond; bum

• Dutch: leegloper m, vagebond m
• Italian: vagabondo (it)
• Polish: tramp (pl) m, wagabunda (pl) m, włóczęga (pl) m

• Portuguese: vagabundo (pt) m, vagabunda (pt) f
• Swedish: luffare (sv) n, vagabond (sv) n

migratory worker

• French: saisonnier (fr) m
• Polish: robotnik sezonowy (pl) m

• Portuguese: sazonal (pt)

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 Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Finnish: kulkuri (fi)
• French: clochard m, clodo, sans-abri m, vagabond m

• Slovak: tulák (sk) m
• Spanish: vagabundo (es)

Verb

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

1. (intransitive) To be a hobo, tramp, bum etc.

   Joe idly hoboed through half the country till he realized hoboing never gets you anywhere in life.

Anagrams

• boho, Boho

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Dutch

Wikipedia ^nl

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Etymology

From French hautbois (from haut 'high' + bois 'wood')

Noun

hobo m (plural hobo's, diminutive hobootje)

1. An oboe, a woodwind melody instrument

Derived terms

• hoboïst m

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Japanese

Romanization

hobo

1. See ほぼ