longshoreman

American  

[lawng-shawr-muhn, -shohr-, long-] / ˈlɔŋˈʃɔr mən, -ˈʃoʊr-, ˈlɒŋ- /

noun

plural

longshoremen

1. a person employed on the wharves of a port, as in loading and unloading vessels.

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longshoreman British  

/ ˈlɒŋˌʃɔːmən /

noun

1. Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): docker.  a man employed in the loading or unloading of ships

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Usage

What does longshoreman mean? A longshoreman is a person who works loading and unloading shipping vessels at a dock. A longshoreman can also be called a docker or dockworker. The work of a longshoreman is called longshoring. Although the profession has traditionally been done primarily by men, women also do the job, and one can be called a longshorewoman, a woman longshoreman, or a female longshoreman. Example: When I worked as a longshoreman, I made good money, but the work was exhausting.

Gender

See -man.

Etymology

Origin of longshoreman

First recorded in 1805–15; longshore + -man

Explanation

A person who works loading and unloading vessels in a harbor is a longshoreman. Many modern longshoremen use cranes and forklifts to move containers on and off container ships. Other words for this job are stevedore and dockworker. The term longshoreman, commonly used in the U.S. and Canada, was derived from man-along-the-shore or man alongshore. Still, any laborer who moves goods onto or off of a ship can be called a longshoreman, even if they're not a man. There aren't as many of these jobs today as there once were, but there are still more than 100,000 longshoremen who work in dozens of U.S. ports.

Example Sentences

It wasn’t a ticket after all but a note — “I’m the longshoreman guy who helped you today. Give me a call” — with his number.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 14, 2023

I wanted to frame it and hang it on the backyard pecan tree as the longshoreman guy and I finally said ”I do.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 14, 2023

When longshoreman Herald Ugles started working the Seattle docks in 1980, he reckons roughly half the cargo loaded was in containers, and the other half was breakbulk.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 30, 2022

He quit school and left home in his mid-teens, working as a dishwasher and longshoreman, among other jobs, to save money for acting school.

From Washington Post • Sep. 16, 2022

She grabbed a passing longshoreman by the sleeve.

From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin