Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A person or animal that lives in or close to a swamp.
  • noun An assistant who performs tasks requiring little training, as.
  • noun One who clears brush for loggers.
  • noun A truck driver's assistant.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One engaged in breaking out roads for lumberers, or clearing away underbrush, especially in swamps; one who cuts trees in a swamp.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From swamp +‎ -er.

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Examples

  • As a "swamper" -- one who loads heavy crates of grapes for hours at a time -- Carrillo was paid according to how much product he was able to move in a day, not how many hours he worked.

    Bakersfield.com Latest news 2010

  • Mr. Harshaw is the "swamper," because he makes himself useful doing things my lord doesn't like to do.

    A Touch of Sun and Other Stories Mary Hallock Foote 1892

  • I remember a story about a Louisiana boy that got his 4x4 "swamper" stuck in the bayou.

    Latest Articles WMBF News 2010

  • Carrillo's position as a "swamper" is a particularly demanding job, and one made harder by the fact that he was paid according to how many crates he loaded in a day.

    Bakersfield.com Latest news 2010

  • "swamper" sits anywhere on the lumps and bumps which our baggage makes, covered by the canvas wagon-sheet.

    A Touch of Sun and Other Stories Mary Hallock Foote 1892

  • Johnny Heinold, "boss barkeeper, cash-register and swamper" of the First-and-Last Chance Saloon recalls the exploits of a noted California author.

    Heinold's First and Last Chance Saloon 2010

  • President Obama's stimulus is doing just that, so the majority answered the survey wrong. swamper

    Poll: Stimulus not working 2009

  • I sit here, all the doors and windows closed, the stereo up, the swamper rattling futilely overhead as it sucks in sulfurous smoke, wishing to drown out the noise that so delights others.

    mjh's blog — 2008 — July 2008

  • Squire Bob got this swamper when he bought his property off the 6th line.

    Archive 2007-07-01 2007

  • Each wagon would be manned by a driver and a swamper, the driver wielding a whip, the swamper hurling stones at the mules to keep them moving.

    THE AMERICAN WEST DEE BROWN 2007

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