Meaning & use
ranch hand
Last updated
UK/ˈrɑːntʃ ˌhænd/
US/ˈræntʃ ˌhænd/
Meaning
nouncountableAmerican
A person employed to do the daily work on a ranch, such as feeding and herding cattle and mending fences.
Grammar: Countable: they hired two ranch hands.
Patterns
- work as a ranch hand
He worked as a ranch hand in Montana for three summers.
The ranch hands rose before dawn to feed the cattle.
She hired a ranch hand to help during the spring roundup.
Word forms
| plural | ranch hands |
|---|
Common combinations
- work as a ranch hand
- He worked as a ranch hand after leaving school.
- hire a ranch hand
- They hired a ranch hand for the busy season.
- experienced ranch hand
- An experienced ranch hand can ride and mend fences.
- ranch hand duties
- Ranch hand duties include feeding horses.
Synonyms and how they differ
- cowboy
- Cowboy focuses on herding cattle on horseback and has a romantic image, while ranch hand covers all work on the ranch.
- farmhand
- Farmhand works on a farm, usually with crops, rather than on a ranch with livestock.
- wrangler
- A wrangler specifically looks after horses or cattle, so it is narrower.
- stockman
- Stockman is an Australian word for a person who tends livestock.
Word family
Commonly confused: ranch hand or rancher?
ranch hand vs rancher
A rancher owns or runs the ranch, whereas a ranch hand is an employee who does the daily work.
Practice
What does a ranch hand do?
Choose one answer.
A ranch hand is an employee who performs daily work such as feeding animals. The owner is the rancher.
Make it your own
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