<p><strong>noun</strong></p><ul><li>Nautical: any of various fore-and-aft-rigged sailing vessels having a single jib bent to a stay from the stemhead, no bowsprit being used; usually rigged as a sloop</li><li>something designed or suitable for rough or casual use, as a sturdy jacket, a secondhand car, etc.</li><li>a slapstick comedian or comedy</li><li>Australian: an itinerant farm hand or ranch hand; an itinerant handyman</li><li>British Archaic: wanderer</li></ul><p><strong>adjective</strong></p><ul><li>suitable for rough use, as a garment (e.g., a knockabout jacket and jeans)</li><li>characterized by knocking about; rough; boisterous</li><li>slapstick (e.g., knockabout comedy)</li><li>shiftless; aimless (e.g., a knockabout kind of person)</li></ul>