Word Study
Boatswain
CIDE DICTIONARY
Boatswain, n. [Boat + swain.].
- An officer who has charge of the boats, sails, rigging, colors, anchors, cables, cordage, etc., of a ship, and who also summons the crew, and performs other duties. [1913 Webster]
- The jager gull. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
Boatswain, n. (also bo'sun, bosun, bo's'n) a ship's officer in charge of equipment and the crew.
Idiom
boatswain's chair a seat suspended from ropes for work on the side of a ship or building.
Etymology
OE batswegen (as BOAT, SWAIN)
THESAURUS
Boatswain
Big Brother, OD, auditor, boss, captain, chief, chief engineer, chief mate, commander, comptroller, controller, deck officer, floor manager, floorman, floorwalker, foreman, gaffer, ganger, head, headman, inspector, master, mate, monitor, naval officer, navigating officer, navigator, noncommissioned officer, overman, overseer, patron, pipes, proctor, quartermaster, sailing master, second mate, shipmaster, sirdar, skipper, slave driver, straw boss, subforeman, super, superintendent, supervisor, surveyor, taskmaster, the Old Man, visitor, watch officerROGET THESAURUS
Boatswain
Mariner
N sailor, mariner, navigator, seaman, seafarer, seafaring man, dock walloper, tar, jack tar, salt, able seaman, A, B, man-of-war's man, bluejacket, galiongee, galionji, marine, jolly, midshipman, middy, skipper, shipman, boatman, ferryman, waterman, lighterman, bargeman, longshoreman, bargee, gondolier, oar, oarsman, rower, boatswain, cockswain, coxswain, steersman, pilot, crew, aerial navigator, aeronaut, balloonist, Icarus, aeroplanist, airman, aviator, birdman, man-bird, wizard of the air, aviatrix, flier, pilot, test pilot, glider pilot, bush pilot, navigator, flight attendant, steward, stewardess, crew, astronaut, cosmonaut, parachutist, paratrooper.For further exploring for "Boatswain" in Webster Dictionary Online