hired hand

Temporary farm laborer

A hired hand is a worker employed for manual labor, especially on a farm or ranch.

The term emphasizes the temporary or subordinate nature of the employment—you're hiring their hands, not their minds.

The ranch employed three hired hands during calving season.

Sometimes shortened to simply hand: We need more hands for the harvest.

farmwork

farmhand

Agricultural employee

laborerPhysical task performer
cowhandRanch livestock worker
rancheroMexican cattle farmer

sharecropper · migrant worker · picker · plowman · sower · thresher · milker · shepherd · fencer · tiller

employment

worker

Person who toils

employeeHired organizational member
day laborerCasual hired worker
temporary workerStaff hired briefly

seasonal worker · casual labor · contract worker · gig worker · short-term · jobber · hourly worker · manual laborer · unskilled labor

subordinate

helper

One who aids another

assistantOne who aids another
aideSupporting staff member
underlingPerson of lower rank

lackey · minion · henchman · flunky · errand boy · gofer · factotum · second · deputy · retainer

Categories

casual workersday laborer, casual worker, temp, temp worker, gig worker
farm workersfarmer, farmworker, farm laborer, farmhand, harvester
farmworkersfarmhand, farmworker, farm laborer, fieldworker, migrant worker
laborerslaborers, day laborer, day labourer, day laborers, manual worker
livestock workerscowboy, rancher, cattleman, cowherd, cowhand
farmhandsfarmhand, farm laborer, crop worker, harvest worker, agricultural worker

Opposites

employment status/ownership

hired handowner

Holder of title

boss · proprietor · employer · landowner · master

labor commitment/permanence

hired handfamily member

Person connected by blood

kin · tenant farmer · sharecropper · partner · homesteader

Family

hand, hire, hands, hired, handful, hiring, handed, handfuls, handing

Familiarity: Top 100,000
Profile: Timeless · Concrete · Everyday, not technical · Rated G