sundowner
Noun

sundowner (plural sundowners)

  1. (Australia, obsolete) An itinerant worker, such as a swagman, who arrives at a farm too late in the day to do any work, but readily accepts food and lodging.
    • 2008, Arthur Upfield, Kees de Hoog (editor), Wisp of Wool and Disk of Silver, Up and Down Australia, [http://books.google.com.au/books?id=XsqJt5edlYYC&pg=PA279&lpg=PA279&dq=%22sundowner%22|%22sundowners%22+australia+-intitle:%22%22+-inauthor:%22%22&source=bl&ots=7OqkBNGNnb&sig=liQn0cuvMXLi-EARiFCR0q02nDU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=P1BsUKPYMuaAiQeB0YDAAQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22sundowner%22|%22sundowners%22%20australia%20-intitle%3A%22%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false page 279],
      What he saw was not usual in this part of Australia - a sundowner, a bush waif who tramps from north to south or from east to west, never working, cadging rations from the far-flung homesteads and having the ability of the camel to do without water, or find it.
    • 2010, John Hirst, Looking for Australia: Historical Essays, [http://books.google.com.au/books?id=v5OBkolXcj4C&pg=PA60&lpg=PA60&dq=%22sundowner%22|%22sundowners%22+australia+-intitle:%22%22+-inauthor:%22%22&source=bl&ots=x98IS3nGdi&sig=rb1a6MIvcd2bymhOwrhFGCvyQgE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=P1BsUKPYMuaAiQeB0YDAAQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22sundowner%22|%22sundowners%22%20australia%20-intitle%3A%22%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false page 60],
      Like the Australian sundowners, some of these trampers were suspected of never wanting to find a job.
  2. (Australia, obsolete) An itinerant worker, a swagman.
  3. (nautical) A sea captain who shows harsh discipline by requiring all hands to be on board by sundown.
  4. (medicine, colloquial) A patient, usually demented, who tends to become agitated in the evening.
    • 1977, Jules Hymen Masserman, Current Psychiatric Therapies, page 179,
      These patients may improve by day only to relapse at night (nocturnal delirium or sundowner's syndrome).
    • 1989: William H. Reid, The Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders: Revised for the DSM III R., page 71 ↗,
      They generally occur in the evening or at night in the form of "sundowner" syndrome, as a result of diminished sensory input and social isolation and/or exposure to an unfamiliar environment (e.g., the hospital).
    • 2007 February 7, Dennis Fiely, Dark Ages: For the elderly fighting mental or physical problems, life takes a frightening turn when nighttime comes ↗, The Columbus Dispatch
      Sundowner′s syndrome” refers to changes in mood and behavior that begin near dusk.
  5. (originally, colonial slang, especially, southern Africa) A cocktail consumed at sunset, or to signify the end of the day.
    • 1918, Robert Valentine Dolbey, Sketches of the East Africa Campaign, page 117,
      The cocktail, the universal “sherry and bitters” and sundowner will have to be retained.
    • 1952, Doris Lessing, Martha Quest, Panther 1974, p. 146:
      Mrs. Lowe-Island […] had imagined the Sports Club as a large shadowy veranda, with native servants standing like willing statues around the walls, plenty of sundowners, and that laughter which is the result of personal comment […].
    • 2005, Franz Wisner, Honeymoon With My Brother: A Memoir, page 243,
      Per custom, we capped our drives with a sundowner cocktail party at a scenic vantage point.
  6. A cocktail party held in the early evening.
    • 2005, Edward M. Bruner, Culture on Tour: Ethnographies of Travel, page 83,
      The Sundowner is basically a cocktail party with a buffet on a riverbank in the bush.
  7. A physician employed by the government who practises for private fees after his official hours.
  8. Any worker who practises for private fees after official hours.
    • 1956, Redbook: The Magazine for Young Adults (volume 108, page 64)
      These "sundowners" hold jobs in other — usually related — trades, and do their servicing nights and weekends.
    • 1961, Radio-electronics (volume 32, page 262)
      […] according to Home Furnishings Daily, “Public exposure of the sundowners provides strong support for our campaign for state licensing of TV technicians. […]



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