maverick

adjectif

1. 1

   Unbranded.

   Occasionally some young men who have no cattle of their own will take part in these expeditions, or they will give their services by the year to receive a pro rata of all the maverick cattle that may be found. [Quoted from The Texas New Yorker, pages 110–111.]

   But I would rather have maverick cattle, they are more accustomed to range conditions. My cattle from the registered herd have not done too well.

   Attempts to regulate the distribution of maverick cattle throughout the 1880s affected particularly the access of cowboys to mavericks.

2. 2

   Showing independence in thoughts or actions.

   He made a maverick decision. She is such a maverick person.

   A maverick person tends to be wild, unsettled, and irresponsible, often an outlaw not bound by the rules and mores of society.

   John Maynard Keynes, the internationally renowned economist, was impressed by Alan [Turing]'s work, and his unorthodox style. […] It is quite likely that Keynes viewed Alan and his maverick attitude to maths research sympathetically.

   As resident jester at the maverick journalism outlet The Free Press, Nellie Bowles scours the news for the absurd and hypocritical, and then skewers the best of the worst in her column, TGIF.

nom

1. 1

   An unbranded range animal.

   In this distribution, care is taken to leave not only those which bear the owner's mark and brand, but his due proportion of the mavericks* that have been found upon the expedition. [footnote: *The term "maverick" is applied in this country to all animals that have neither mark nor brand upon them, and originated in this way:[…]]

   Under this law 2,035 mavericks (orphan calves) were discovered and disposed of by the round-up foremen. Formerly the custom was to brand mavericks with the brand of the owner of that portion of the range where they were found. Under the new law, all mavericks are branded with the association brand, and sold at auction.

   Long Bill was a graduate of the camp and trail. Luck and thrift, a cool head, and a telescopic eye for mavericks had raised him from cowboy to be a cowman.

   A maverick is an unbranded calf that has been weaned and shifts for itself. The maverick then belongs to the man who finds it and brands it.

2. 2

   Anything dishonestly obtained.

3. 3

   One who is unconventional or does not abide by rules.

   Among historians he was a maverick because of his belief that history is meaningless.

   As a voter, I’m a maverick, don’t belong to any party. I believe that John Doe is the best available man for county commissioner, Richard Roe for sheriff, Joe Hicks for governor—but John is a Democrat, Dick is a Republican, and Joe is—well, something else.

   The relative merits of the civils and the demerits of the electricals were extolled in the following challenge: “To the A.I.E.E. [American Institute of Electrical Engineers], hereinafter referred to as the mavericks of the engineering profession.”

   If representation and recruitment is an objective, self-styled mavericks like Kelly and his Queensland sidekick George Christensen have some utility.

4. 4

   One who creates or uses controversial or unconventional ideas or practices.

   We then drift back into our old habits, glorify efficiency, and smile knowingly at the mavericks within the faculty who want the administration to take democracy seriously.

   Florence Nightingale would have been perceived as a maverick during her early career, because she was prioritizing hygiene when everybody else involved in healthcare was focused on other things, such as surgery and pills.

   “He was, in reality, more of a celebrity and less of an economist,” recalled the 51-year-old, who described handpicking the maverick as his finance minister because of his international reputation and “extremely attractive” skills as a public orator.

5. 5

   A person in the military who became an officer by going to college while on active duty as an enlisted person.

   They had been working for and with each other for a very long period and their tolerance for “mavericks” was very high, especially if these mavericks continued to get promoted.

6. 6

   argotA queen and a jack as a starting hand in Texas hold ’em.

verbe

1. 1

   To take an unbranded range animal.

   The court permitted the State to prove, over defendant's objections, that Thedford met Noon Tucker and Calvery driving the yearling over to Bachelor's for delivery. Thedford inquired of Noon “if that [meaning the yearling] was one he had mavericked?”

2. 2

   To seize without a legal claim.

Formes

pluriel

mavericks

comparatif

more maverick

superlatif

most maverick

passé

mavericked

participe passé

mavericked

participe présent

mavericking

3ᵉ personne du singulier

mavericks