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• pitman
  pitman

  noun

  a person who works in a pit, as in coal mining.
• Pitman
  Pitman

  noun

  Sir Isaac, 1813–97, English inventor of a system of shorthand.

pitman

¹ American  

[pit-muhn] / ˈpɪt mən /

noun

plural

pitmen, pitmans

1. a person who works in a pit, as in coal mining.

2. Machinery. any of certain types of connecting rods.

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Pitman ² American  

[pit-muhn] / ˈpɪt mən /

noun

1. Sir Isaac, 1813–97, English inventor of a system of shorthand.

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Pitman ¹ British  

/ ˈpɪtmən /

noun

1. Sir Isaac. 1813–97, English inventor of a system of phonetic shorthand (1837)

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pitman ² British  

/ ˈpɪtmən /

noun

1. a person who works down a mine, esp a coal miner

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Etymology

Origin of pitman

First recorded in 1600–10; pit ¹ + -man

Example Sentences

Towering over a high street in a former mining heartland, a statue of a pitman reminds Cornwall of its industrial past.

From BBC • Apr. 9, 2023

I grab a seat at the counter to watch the pitman, John Talley, at work, mincing and slicing a hot, black-crusted pork shoulder.

From Washington Post • Aug. 28, 2016

Besides the wood itself, there’s the cost of paying a pitman to stay up all night to feed the fire, keep it steady — and make sure it doesn’t burn the place down.

From Washington Post • Sep. 20, 2015

Paintings of a colliery and of a miners' pub, by the pitman painter Norman Cornish, hang on the walls.

From The Guardian • May 18, 2013

The change of direction effected by the pitman rod caused some loss of energy; in any case, a revolving barrel-churn proved more efficient in the long run.

From Agricultural Implements and Machines in the Collection of the National Museum of History and Technology Smithsonian Studies in History and Technology, No. 17 by Schlebecker, John T.