waterman

American  

[waw-ter-muhn, wot-er-] / ˈwɔ tər mən, ˈwɒt ər- /

noun

PLURAL

watermen

1. a person who manages or works on a boat; boatman.

2. a person skilled in rowing or boating.

3. Chesapeake Bay Area.  a person with a general license to take any legal catch of fish and shellfish in Chesapeake Bay.

---

waterman British  

/ ˈwɔːtəmən /

noun

1. a skilled boatman

---

Other Word Forms

• watermanship noun

Etymology

Origin of waterman

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; water, man

Example Sentences

Over the past six years, we’ve been working on building a network of watermen that will give the specific care and procedures to the fish that we’re looking for.

From Salon

Project backer and renowned Native Hawaiian waterman Brian Keaulana has said artificial waves are useful for competitive surfers to train on perfect breaks that are sometimes elusive in the ocean.

From Seattle Times

The Virginia Institute of Marine Science has worked with the state of Virginia and local watermen to remove tens of thousands of derelict crab pots.

From Washington Post

His exploits were written about often enough in his lifetime that the phrase “one of the most widely known watermen in the state” seemed part of his name.

From Washington Post

Leggett calls such discrimination “sharecropping the bay” and said it was common in the Jim Crow era for White watermen to block Black watermen from owning boats.

From Washington Post