maverick
- 01 C2 Proficiency
a farm animal, like a cow, that has not been marked with a brand to show who owns it.
an unbranded range animal, especially a calf that has become separated from its mother.
Simple“The cowboys spent the afternoon searching the hills for a lost maverick.”
In context“Historically, any rancher who found a maverick on the open range could claim it by applying their own brand.”
UsagePrimarily used in historical or agricultural contexts in the United States.
Synonyms
“But the gospel preached by maverick clarinettist-conductor Martin Fröst is altogether more ancient and more primal: dance.”
“I had approached him because he was one of the few people to speak highly of this country music maverick.”
Named after Texan lawyer and politician Samuel Maverick (1803–1870), who refused to brand his cattle. For probable origin and meaning, see Maverick. The poker noun sense (“a queen and a jack as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em”) may be from the theme song of the US Western television series Maverick (1957–1962), which says of the eponymous protagonist that “[g]amblin’ is his game” and that he is “livin’ on jacks and queens”.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.