boatman
Americannoun
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a person skilled in the use of small craft.
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a person who sells, rents, or works on boats.
noun
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a man who works on, hires out, repairs, or operates a boat or boats
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short for water boatman
Other Word Forms
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.
According to legend, it took rough and rugged characters to tame the early American frontier: men like Daniel Boone, the trailblazer, or Mike Fink, the brawling river boatman.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 2026
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
The baby-faced boatman, who stands out among the weathered older sailors at Star Ferry, said he would spend the rest of his life on the water if given the chance.
From New York Times • Apr. 19, 2022
“What’s going on?” he said to the boatman when he returned the hired boat.
From "The Subtle Knife" 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.
