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cameraman

American  
[kam-er-uh-man, -muhn, kam-ruh-] / ˈkæm ər əˌmæn, -mən, ˈkæm rə- /

noun

  • cameramen
    plural
  1. a person who operates a camera, especially a movie or television camera.


cameraman British  
/ ˈkæmərəˌmæn, ˈkæmrə- /

noun

  1. a person who operates a film or television camera

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Usage

Gender-neutral form: camera operator

Gender

Is cameraman gender-neutral? See -man.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of cameraman

First recorded in 1900–05; camera 1 + man

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.

See Examples For:

Four days later, he hit a camera with his gloves as a cameraman approached him on the pitch after a 2-1 defeat by Colombia.

From BBC Jul. 20, 2026

In the nine-minute short, a young cameraman falls into what appears to be an empty furniture store with an eerie atmosphere: a seemingly endless series of rooms covered in yellow wallpaper and buzzing fluorescent lights.

From Los Angeles Times May 14, 2026

"It is not nice; we don't want to pay more for gas," acknowledged the cameraman as he got his credit card ready to fill up his minivan.

From Barron's May 2, 2026

The following morning, Attenborough and his cameraman were taken to an army compound before being released by a commander.

From BBC Apr. 27, 2026

I didn’t notice this, but I guess it’s the kind of thing a cameraman picks up on.

From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins

Several years later, World War I served as the “force multiplier” for newsreels, which benefited from cameras becoming smaller and lighter, and newsreel editors and cameramen more professional.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 14, 2026

Casting directors are on the lookout for real people who will let hosts, cameramen and crew with a boatload of TV equipment tag along for the ride during a renovation or house hunt.

From The Wall Street Journal Oct. 8, 2025

But the cameramen who work for the BBC cannot turn away, and on Tuesday one of them became a casualty himself.

From BBC May 13, 2025

This aggressive coaxing from the cameramen was seemingly always a part of the brand, an apparent selling point of the videos.

From Slate Dec. 13, 2024

When Mr. Coggin departed after the unfortunate debacle concerning our tonsils, a series of other professional cameramen came and went.

From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey

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