Word.ws English Dictionary

wood and water joey

wood and water joey noun: a person who performs odd jobs; a rouseabout or handyperson.

Noun

wood and water joey (plural wood and water joeys)

  1. (Australia, dated) A person who performs odd jobs; a rouseabout or handyperson.
    • I have known a case where a gentleman, since the Premier of a neighbouring colony, recommended to the Government of which I was a member the appointment of two persons at New England, one of whom was, we were afterwards told, what is called a wood and water joey in a squatter's employment, and the...1873, New South Wales. Parliament. Legislative Council, Votes & Proceedings, page 682
    • "A wood and water joey"! The prospect of such a career for their son is not alluring to many a town father and mother, and hence their reluctance to permit the boy to take a job in the country even though he may feel the call of the land.1921, Queensland. Public Service Commissioner, Annual Report

Examples of wood and water joey in a sentence

  • As 'wood and water joey,' he was responsible for supplying wood for the fire and water for the camp.2011 December 1, Lennie Wallace, Cape York Peninsula, Boolarong Press, →ISBN, page 29:
  • After the campaign commenced Bennett was determined that the AIF would take an active part in the defence of Malaya and not become just a collection of 'wood and water joeys' for the British.2021 March 30, D. M. Horner, The Commanders: Australian Military Leadership in the Twentieth Century, Routledge, →ISBN:

Forms of wood and water joey

pluralwood and water joeys

Origin of wood and water joey

Common tasks would include fetching wood and water. See joey for Australian slang senses; these people were usually young.

Questions about wood and water joey

What does wood and water joey mean?
Wood and water joey means a person who performs odd jobs; a rouseabout or handyperson.
How do you use wood and water joey in a sentence?
As 'wood and water joey,' he was responsible for supplying wood for the fire and water for the camp.
What part of speech is wood and water joey?
Wood and water joey is a noun.
What is the plural of wood and water joey?
The plural of wood and water joey is wood and water joeys.

Words near wood and water joey in the dictionary

  1. Wooburn
  2. wood
  3. wood acid
  4. wood alcohol
  5. wood alcohols
  6. wood and water joey
  7. wood and water joeys
  8. wood anemone
  9. wood anemones
  10. wood anniversaries
  11. wood anniversary

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: wood and water joey (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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