able seaman
Americannoun
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Also called able-bodied seaman. an experienced deck-department seaman qualified to perform routine sea duties.
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(in the British Navy and on British and U.S. merchant ships) a rating between ordinary seaman and leading seaman or boatswain's mate. A.B., AB
Etymology
Origin of able seaman
First recorded in 1695–1705
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.
Simon Dowers, of Martlesham, near Ipswich, was a 23-year-old able seaman on the European Gateway on the night of the tragedy.
From BBC • Dec. 19, 2022
Historians said the able seaman had come from a wealthy grazing family and trained as an accountant.
From BBC • Nov. 18, 2021
I found Joshua Maloka, a twenty-six-year-old able seaman, in the base’s chapel.
From The New Yorker • Feb. 21, 2017
An American merchant ship was on the high seas this week carrying the highest-paid able seaman in U.S. maritime history: tough, balding Joe Curran, $5,200-a-year president of the C.I.O.
From Time Magazine Archive
That evening an unfortunate accident befell an able seaman who had crewed the rigging on the Heart of a Dream.
From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman
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.
