sundowner

Etymology

From sundown + -er.

noun

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.
   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. 2008, Arthur Upfield, edited by Kees de Hoog, Wisp of Wool and Disk of Silver: Up and Down Australia, page 279
   Like the Australian sundowners, some of these trampers were suspected of never wanting to find a job. 2010, John Hirst, Looking for Australia: Historical Essays, page 60
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.
   Arrogant, aloof, and suspicious, a “sundowner,” or strict disciplinarian, King inspired respect in many but affection in few. 1985, Ronald H. Spector, Eagle Against the Sun
4. (medicine, colloquial) A patient, usually demented, who tends to become agitated in the evening.
   These patients may improve by day only to relapse at night (nocturnal delirium or sundowner's syndrome). 1977, Jules Hymen Masserman, Current Psychiatric Therapies, page 179
   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). 1989, William H. Reid, The Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders: Revised for the DSM III R., page 71
   “Sundowner′s syndrome” refers to changes in mood and behavior that begin near dusk. February 7 2007, Dennis Fiely, “Dark Ages: For the elderly fighting mental or physical problems, life takes a frightening turn when nighttime comes”, in The Columbus Dispatch
5. (originally colonial slang, especially southern Africa) A cocktail consumed at sunset, or to signify the end of the day.
   The cocktail, the universal “sherry and bitters” and sundowner will have to be retained. 1918, Robert Valentine Dolbey, Sketches of the East Africa Campaign, page 117
   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 […]. 1952, Doris Lessing, Martha Quest, Panther, published 1974, page 146
   Per custom, we capped our drives with a sundowner cocktail party at a scenic vantage point. 2005, Franz Wisner, Honeymoon With My Brother: A Memoir, page 243
6. A cocktail party held in the early evening.
   The Sundowner is basically a cocktail party with a buffet on a riverbank in the bush. 2005, Edward M. Bruner, Culture on Tour: Ethnographies of Travel,, page 83
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.
   These "sundowners" hold jobs in other — usually related — trades, and do their servicing nights and weekends. 1956, Redbook: The Magazine for Young Adults, volume 108, page 64
   […] according to Home Furnishings Daily, “Public exposure of the sundowners provides strong support for our campaign for state licensing of TV technicians. […] 1961, Radio-electronics, volume 32, page 262