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section hand

American  

noun

Railroads.
  1. a person who works on a section gang.


Etymology

Origin of section hand

First recorded in 1870–75

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.

See Examples For:

And rubber's Jeffers, a tough customer who came up from section hand to railroad president, will take his coat off at the slightest provocation.

From Time Magazine Archive

He wore the shabby blue overalls of a section hand.

From Time Magazine Archive

He was a jobless railroad section hand at Ashland, Miss. His wife Pearl, 30, had borne him three children, was great with a fourth.

From Time Magazine Archive

Woodruff, who had risen from section hand to president in 36 years with the Erie, bought new diesels for fast freight, streamlined the Erie's creaky business methods, cleared $21.8 million in 1941.

From Time Magazine Archive

Then I come to Winnsboro and git a job as section hand laborer on de railroad.

From Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves South Carolina Narratives, Part 1 by Work Projects Administration

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