oysterman

American  

[oi-ster-muhn] / ˈɔɪ stər mən /

noun

• oystermen
  plural

1. a person who gathers, cultivates, or sells oysters.

2. a boat specially equipped for gathering oysters.

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oysterman British  

/ ˈɔɪstəmən /

noun

1. a person who gathers, cultivates, or sells oysters

2. a boat used in gathering oysters

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• oystermen
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of oysterman

First recorded in 1545–55; oyster + -man

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

oysterman oystermen

I have no objection to the Democrats’ nominating an oysterman for a Senate seat.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

The oysterman and former Marine who bested a popular governor and built a grass-roots network of more than 15,000 supporters in Maine announced he was suspending his campaign on Wednesday night.

From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026

Senate, the gruff oysterman opened with a joke.

From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026

Racicot’s story was included in a New York Times report in which former romantic partners of Platner’s recounted “unsettling” behavior from the veteran and oysterman.

From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2026

He was owned by an oysterman by the name of Jos.

From The Underground Railroad A Record of Facts, Authentic Narratives, Letters, &c., Narrating the Hardships, Hair-Breadth Escapes and Death Struggles of the Slaves in Their Efforts for Freedom, As Related by Themselves and Others, or Witnessed by the Author. by William Still

Black men made up 60% of oystermen listed in an 1810 directory, working together with white oystermen as part of a prosperous local industry.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026

Born about 1772, enslaved as a child and then set free by a family of German American potters, Mr. Commeraw began designing ceramics in the 1790s, including food storage vessels for oystermen and innkeepers.

From New York Times ● Mar. 9, 2023

That’s a systemic problem, noted Deni Henson, who grew up here in the 1960s, when the town of 41,000 was low-key and working-class, home to oystermen and crabbers.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 27, 2022

There was a guy named John Sherwood who would ply the Chesapeake Bay in his sloop and find these islands where the oystermen still spoke almost in Elizabethan dialect, and write these rhapsodic pictures.

From Salon ● Feb. 1, 2022

The drowsy dash of the low surf on the bar beyond the inlet was harsh to this still and shallow haven for wreckers and oystermen.

From Tales of the Chesapeake by George Alfred Townsend

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