Definitions

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun a petty officer on a merchant ship who controls the work of other seamen.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun nautical A warrant or petty officer on board a naval ship.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a petty officer on a merchant ship who controls the work of other seamen
  • noun a petty officer on a merchant ship who controls the work of other seamen

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Contraction of boatswain.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word bo's'n.

Examples

  • And now you want the bo's'n to jump him and throw him overboard.

    CHAPTER VI 2010

  • The boat - stretcher caught him fairly on the nose -- it was the bo's'n -- and the mutiny began.

    CHAPTER X 2010

  • You never got them in the fight in the longboat when the bo's'n carved you up.

    CHAPTER XIII 2010

  • Others of importance aboard were Carney, chief engineer; Tompkins, bo's'n;

    The Boy Allies with Uncle Sam's Cruisers

  • As bo's'n, it was not only his right but his duty to lay in with a rope's end occasionally.

    The Black Buccaneer 1934

  • He turned his eyes painfully to look and beheld the dark, bearded visage of George Dunkin, the bo's'n, who scowled angrily and kicked him in the ribs with a heavy toe.

    The Black Buccaneer 1934

  • The bo's'n, a grizzled veteran of many sea-fights, was kneeling beside his Captain with an ear to his side.

    The Black Buccaneer 1934

  • Since his lieutenancy aboard the prize-sloop, however, the bo's'n had necessarily ceased to be the executive of punishment, and when Monday, recognized on all the seas as whipping day, came around, there was a very secret hope in Jeremy's heart that the office would be forgotten.

    The Black Buccaneer 1934

  • And now you want the bo's'n to jump him and throw him overboard.

    Chapter 6 1917

  • You never got them in the fight in the longboat when the bo's'n carved you up.

    Chapter 13 1917

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