Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A person who usually steers a ship's boat and has charge of its crew.
- n. A person in a racing shell who usually directs the rest of the crew.
- v. To act as coxswain or serve as coxswain for.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. See cockswain.
Wiktionary
- n. In a ship's boat, the helmsman given charge of the boat's crew.
- n. In a rowing crew, the member who steers the shell and coordinates the power and rhythm of the rowers.
- n. archaic The second or third mate of a vessel, in charge of the master's barge.
- n. naval A rank or position.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. See cockswain.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the helmsman of a ship's boat or a racing crew
Etymologies
- cock a boat + swain; hence, the master of a boat. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English cokswaynne : cok, cockboat; see cockboat + swain, servant; see swain. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Everyone called the coxswain Adam, even his son and partner, Rufus the”
“When they shot around this, of course the coxswain was the only one who immediately saw the exciting scene presented.”
Fred Fenton on the Crew or, The Young Oarsmen of Riverport School
“At 2 a.m. the coastguard on Deal beach called the coxswain of the lifeboat, R. R.berts.”
“Whereupon Jack, calling the coxswain up out of the boat alongside for the purpose of keeping an eye upon things generally, and seeing that no trickery was attempted, went forward to the fore deck, where about three hundred men, women, and children were drawn up in four lines or ranks, two on each side of the deck.”
“Dance the coxswain was the first affected in that way, but after a few moments Mark felt that the poor fellow had been suffering in”
“Keep up your spirits, dear Peggy," said Nell, in that sweet, cosy tone -- if we may say so -- which played such havoc in Bob's bosom at the time when she was known as the coxswain's bride.”
The Coxswain's Bride also, Jack Frost and Sons; and, A Double Rescue
“It was a somewhat strange fancy, but the coxswain was a man who, having taken a fancy, was not easily turned from it.”
The Coxswain's Bride also, Jack Frost and Sons; and, A Double Rescue
“In, bows!" called the coxswain; and the two bowmen tossed and boated their oars, taking their stations in the fore-sheets, one of them with the boat-hook in his hand.”
“As the coxswain was a steady fellow, and the wind was fair, I had no anxiety as to their finding their way.”
“In fact, the coxswain is the commander of the boat's crew.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘coxswain’.
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11250 more...
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Words that sound dirty but aren't.
When you want to be pedantic AND childish.
titular, masticate, condiment, titmouse, penal, formication, social intercourse, assassination, cacophony, lucubrate, rectify, banal and 131 more...
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Amusing Nautical Words
coxswain, mizzenmast, boomjumper, abaft, cuddy, theodolite, gurrybutt, lily iron, yaw, lobscouse, orlop, dreadnought
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If it ain't broke
paint, quaint, maintop, saint, faint, dainty, ain't, unacquainted, the rain in Spain..., ruzuzutainment, 1 Mountain Artill..., Ukraine and 81 more...
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•Unexpected Pronunciation, Now! with ...
Inspired to publicity by the conversation at segway. Thanks, pals!
boatswain, clapboard, waistcoat, victuals, forecastle, solder, colonel, ensign, worcestershire sauce, creatinine, coelacanth, banal and 79 more...
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Scriptie: Master and Commander
Nice ambient words from the movie. (With apologies to Patrick O'Brian.) Aaaah, life at sea...aboard a hulk of the British navy in 1805...
surprise, acheron, guns, souls, oceans, battlefields, prize, burn, sink, privateer, hammock, lantern and 118 more...
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Nautical Words
lubber, mizzenmast, circumnavigation, clipper, cordage, galleon, gangplank, gangway, flying bridge, following sea, schooner, amidships and 106 more...
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the first list
an immense, grandiloquent list that loads like a thousand years sentence in stone. new words are in the other lists.
ridiculous, brummagem, predicament, sanctimonious, vapid, eschew, admonish, auspicious, capitulation, enumerate, lachrymose, tenet and 1648 more...
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Hey! L...
for the same
ichthyarchy, thalassic, nip-cheese, cerement, manavalins, rockweed, polder, semipalmate, blue peter, curragh, crowfoot, cat and 160 more...
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ICE
quincunx, adoxography, panjundrum, breloque, surd, scripturient, rousant, favrile, embouchure, aquarelle, griffonage, sussultatory and 491 more...
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billfence's Words
quotidian, flux, sawbuck, horsefeathers, chalcedony, harp, no, fox, tennis, badminton, flue, charm and 186 more...
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tomax's Words
legerdemain, yayo, extravasation, wont, faze, coxswain, concomitant, enclave, unguent, rhabdomyolysis, effluent, puerile and 432 more...
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elizacole's Words
isomorphic, endemic, tmesis, fillip, antedate, avoirdupois, jeremiad, hypnagogic, antediluvian, fuck, reification, raconteur and 251 more...
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*xsw
A very short list. Apparently the 3-letter string *xsw is rare in English.
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Words. Just words.
Our chief weapons are words, that's all. Just words. Only words, not justly words, that is.
That is to say that there are only words in this list, not words that are just, although s...profligacy, monty, the arc of history, luddite, peremptory, brusque, languid, callipygian, perniciously, insidiousness, camelot, perforce and 189 more...
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Take Me To Your Whosit
About leaders, particularly the authority-figure at the top of the tree.
leader, chief, boss, cap'n, executive, president, head, tsar, alpha male, alpha female, conductor, dean and 127 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for coxswain.
madmouth so it's a cocksinship? oh MY Jun 15, 2009
seanahan This one is pronounced very strange, like "cocks-in". Similarly, "boatswain" is pronounced "bo-sin". Jun 11, 2007
thinkcharlene College Jun 11, 2007
chained_bear The helmsman of a boat; the person on board ship having permanent charge of a boat and its crew, of which he has command unless a superior officer is present. See also coxswainship, which is just plain weird. Feb 5, 2007