powder monkey
Americannoun
-
(formerly) a boy employed on warships to carry gunpowder from the magazine to the guns.
noun
Etymology
Origin of powder monkey
First recorded in 1675–85
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.
From a short hitch as assistant powder monkey in a Colorado gold mine.
From Time Magazine Archive
He was a powder monkey, which meant it was his job to rush heavy bags of explosive gunpowder to the men loading the cannons.
From I Survived the American Revolution, 1776 by Lauren Tarshis
Needless to say, that ended my monkeying around with powder, trying to play powder monkey.
From The Life of Me; an autobiography by Johnson, Clarence Edgar
He looked certainly old enough to have fought at Trafalgar—or, at any rate, to have played his little part there as a powder monkey.
From A Personal Record by Conrad, Joseph
The powder monkey rushed up with the fire, and then the cannon began to bark, I tell you.
From From Farm House to the White House The life of George Washington, his boyhood, youth, manhood, public and private life and services by Thayer, William M. (William Makepeace)
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.
