(colloquial, chiefly, US, dated) A dirty or low-paid worker, a labourer; an ironworker in an ironworks or a steelworker in a steelworks.
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(colloquial, chiefly, US) 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.
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(colloquial, chiefly, US) 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.
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