knockabout

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• adjective Boisterous; rowdy.
• adjective Appropriate for rough wear or use.
• noun A small sloop with a mainsail, jib, and keel but no bowsprit.

from The Century Dictionary.

• Noting something which knocks (other things) about; rough; buffeting; boisterous: as, a knockabout game of foot-ball.
• Accustomed to knock about or to be knocked about: as, a knockabout globe-trotter; suitable to be knocked about in: as, a knockabout coat.
• Noisy; full of horse-play: as, a knockabout entertainment; knockabout business.
• In Australia, applied to a jack of all trades on a station.
• noun A traveler; one who has knocked about.
• noun A performer in a knockabout playorsketch;the sketch itself.
• noun In Australia, a hand on a station who does a little of everything.
• noun A small sailing-yacht of light construction and simple sail rig, the latter consisting of a mainsail and a jib bent on a stay that is set up on the stem of the boat. These boats, as a rule, are flat-bottomed, with a fin-keel, and can be handled very quickly, going from one tack to another without apparently losing speed. Some knockabouts are provided with a center-board instead of a fin, for use in shallow waters.
• noun A small launch.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun (Naut.) A small yacht, generally from fifteen to twenty-five feet in length, having a mainsail and a jib; a sloop with a simplified rig and no bowsprit. All knockabouts have ballast and either a keel or centerboard. The original type was twenty-one feet in length. The next larger type is called a raceabout.
• noun Theat. Slang A knockabout performer or performance.
• noun Colloq., Australia A man hired on a sheep station to do odd jobs.
• adjective Marked by knocking about or roughness.
• adjective Theat. Slang Of noisy and violent character; marked by farce, pratfalls, and horseplay.
• adjective Characterized by, or suitable for, knocking about, or traveling or wandering hither and thither; suitable for use in rough activity; suited for everyday use; -- used especially of clothing.
• adjective Collog., Australia That does odd jobs; -- said of a class of hands or laborers on a sheep station.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• adjective Boisterous
• adjective Suitable for rough use.
• noun sailing A small sailboat lacking a bowsprit, of a type found primarily in the Massachusetts area
• noun entertainment A slapstick comedy or comedian.
• noun A tumbler.
• noun Clothing suitable for rough use.
• noun Workers habitually engaged in casual employment.
• noun People living in rough, violent conditions.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• adjective full of rough and exuberant animal spirits
• noun a sloop with a simplified rig and no bowsprit
• adjective suitable for rough use
• verb be around; be alive or active
• verb strike against forcefully