See also: Maverick

English [ edit ]

Etymology [ edit ]

From the surname of Texas lawyer and politician Samuel Maverick (1803–1870), who refused to brand his cattle.[1] See Maverick.

The poker noun sense (“a queen and a jack as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em”) may be from the theme song of the US Western television series Maverick (1957–1962), which says of the eponymous protagonist that “[g]amblin’ is his game” and that he is “livin’ on jacks and queens”.[2]

Pronunciation [ edit ]

Adjective [ edit ]

maverick (comparative more maverick, superlative most maverick)

Translations [ edit ]

of cattle: unbranded Italian: brado (it)

Noun [ edit ]

maverick (plural mavericks)

Translations [ edit ]

anything dishonestly obtained

one who creates or uses controversial or unconventional ideas or practices Czech: nonkonformista podivín m , volnomyšlenkář m

, French: dissident (fr) m , franc-tireur (fr) m

, German: eigenwilliger Typ m , Nonkonformist m , Paradiesvogel (de) m , Querkopf (de) m Italian: anticonformista (it) m

Russian: диссиде́нт (ru) m ( dissidént ) , диссиде́нтка (ru) f ( dissidéntka ) , вольноду́мец (ru) m ( volʹnodúmec ) , инакомы́слящий (ru) m ( inakomýsljaščij )

, , , Spanish: excéntrico (es)

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

poker slang: a queen and a jack as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em

Verb [ edit ]

maverick (third-person singular simple present mavericks, present participle mavericking, simple past and past participle mavericked)

( US ) To take an unbranded range animal. 1887 , A. M. Jackson; A. M. Jackson, Jr., Reports of Cases Argued and Adjudged in the Court of Appeals of Texas , Austin, Tx.: Hutchings Printing House, OCLC 5624120 , page 514: , A. M. Jackson; A. M. Jackson, Jr.,, Austin, Tx.: Hutchings Printing House,, page 514: 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 ?"

1894 July, McClure’s Magazine , volume III, number 2, New York, N.Y.; London: OCLC 945071892 , page 115: July, Alice MacGowan , “The Heraldry of the Plains”, in, volume III, number 2, New York, N.Y.; London: S[amuel] S[idney] McClure, Limited For the capricious and uncertain favor of this the only marriageable young lady in the district, all the susceptible and unattached cowboys (of which class the population almost wholly consisted) strove together eagerly and without ceasing, mavericking right and left everything they could lay their hands on, with a running brand L I L, until, when the tenderfoot she had all along been engaged to came out and married her, she brought him great herds of L I L cattle, with which they gayly set up a ranch beneath the noses of the forlorn celibate community. ( by extension ) To seize without a legal claim.

Translations [ edit ]

to take an unbranded range animal

to seize without a legal claim

References [ edit ]

Michael Weisenberg, compiler (1999) The Official Dictionary of Poker , Inglewood, Calif.: Mike Caro University of Poker, →ISBN ; Tom Dalzell (2012) , “maverick”, in The Slang of Poker , Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications, →ISBN , page 155: “maverick / a queen and jack as the first two cards in a hold 'em hand.”