the title hero of Daniel Defoe's novel (1719), a sailor who, shipwrecked on a tropical island, survives by various ingenious contrivances until rescued years later
See Robinson Crusoe in American Heritage Dictionary 4
noun
The hero of Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe of 1719, a shipwrecked English sailor who, by virtue of his own ingenuity, survives for years on a small tropical island.