boatman
Americannoun
plural
boatmen-
a person skilled in the use of small craft.
-
a person who sells, rents, or works on boats.
noun
-
a man who works on, hires out, repairs, or operates a boat or boats
-
short for water boatman
Etymology
Origin of boatman
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Standing beside a row of tethered punts on the River Stour, boatman James Matharu says while he has heard about other businesses getting cancellations, things are "still pretty busy here".
From BBC • Mar. 21, 2026
"I'm an old boatman, I have experienced another four floods in the village. This was the worst," he told media.
From Reuters • Sep. 9, 2023
Levin Dukes, a boatman, built the house and was its first occupant.
From Washington Post • Apr. 21, 2023
“The Kingdoms of Savannah” is an ensemble piece with no real center of gravity, and way too many kooky humans to enumerate here: a slumlord, a lazy boatman, a whistling vagrant.
From New York Times • Jul. 20, 2022
The boatman bent to listen and then shook his head.
From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
