Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun One who or that which rustles.
- noun One who works or acts with energy and promptness; an active, efficient person; a “hustler”; originally, a cowboy.
- noun A cowman who procures his stock by capturing the cattle of other owners and branding them as his own; a cattle-thief.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun One who, or that which, rustles.
- noun Slang, Western U.S. A bovine animal that can care for itself in any circumstances; also, an alert, energetic, driving person.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun One who
rustles ; acattle thief . - noun A
bovine animal that can care for itself in any circumstances. - noun US, slang, Western US, dated An
alert ,energetic , driving person.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun someone who steals livestock (especially cattle)
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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What he was thinking was that the moon was in the quarter — what they called the rustler's moon.
Lonesome Dove McMurtry, Larry 1985
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What he was thinking was that the moon was in the quarter -- what they called the rustler's moon.
Lonesome Dove McMurtry, Larry 1985
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It used to be a standard ploy — not just “liberal,” but “Whig” (originally “cut-throat cattle rustler from the wild Scottish borders”) and “Tory” (orig. “illiterate Papist peasant from the remotest bogs of Ireland”).
Own It! 2007
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“Ain’t Jack Slade an’ his bunch,” he mumbled as he mounted, “but by God a rustler is a rustler.”
365 tomorrows » 2008 » July : A New Free Flash Fiction SciFi Story Every Day 2008
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What he was thinking was that the moon was in the quarter—what they called the rustler’s moon.
The Lonesome Dove Series Larry McMurtry 1995
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What he was thinking was that the moon was in the quarter—what they called the rustler’s moon.
Lonesome Dove Larry McMurtry 1985
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The prosecution of these men was undertaken with something of the old vigor that characterized the pursuit of horse thieves, with this difference, that, whereas all the world had hated a horse thief as a common enemy, very much of the world found excuse for the so-called rustler, who was known to be doing only what his accusers had done before him.
The Story of the Outlaw A Study of the Western Desperado Emerson Hough 1890
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Budd Hankinson and Grizzly Weber, the two hired men, were absent, looking after the cattle, for the rustler is a night hawk who often gets in the best part of his work between the set and rise of sun.
Cowmen and Rustlers A Story of the Wyoming Cattle Ranges Edward Sylvester Ellis 1878
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"But let the Indians have a steer or two for food, if they need it," begged Mrs. Bobbsey, who had a kind heart even toward an Indian cattle thief, or "rustler", as they are called.
The Bobbsey Twins in the Great West Laura Lee Hope
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A tale of the western frontier, where the "rustler" abounds.
Free Air Sinclair Lewis 1918
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