boat·swain

also bo's'n or bos'n or bo·sun (bō′sən)

A warrant officer or petty officer in charge of a ship's rigging, anchors, cables, and deck crew.

[Middle English botswein : bot, boat; see boat + swein, mate; see swain.]

Usage Note: The word boatswain is pronounced as a single word with two syllables (bō′sən). People with sea legs have a long tradition of spelling the word as bosun, bo's'n, and bos'n to reflect the salty pronunciation. This of course has not prevented landlubbers from using the incorrect two-word pronunciation (bōt′swān′). Many other nautical words have similarly tricky shipboard pronunciations, including bowline, pronounced (bō′lĭn); forecastle, pronounced (fōk′səl) and sometimes spelled fo'c's'le; gunwale, pronounced (gŭn′əl) and also sometimes spelled gunnel; mainsail, pronounced (mān′səl); and topgallant, pronounced (tə-găl′ənt). With the exception of gunwale, however, all of these terms can be correctly pronounced as if they were two words.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

boatswain

(ˈbəʊsən) ,

bosun

bo's'n

(Nautical Terms) a petty officer on a merchant ship or a warrant officer on a warship who is responsible for the maintenance of the ship and its equipment

[Old English bātswegen; see boat, swain]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

boat•swain

or bo's'n

(ˈboʊ sən)

n.

a warrant officer on a warship, or a petty officer on a merchant vessel, in charge of rigging, anchors, cables, etc.

[1400–50; late Middle English boteswayn; see boat, swain]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

boatswain - a petty officer on a merchant ship who controls the work of other seamen

bo's'n, bos'n, bosun, bo'sun

Jack-tar, mariner, old salt, sea dog, seafarer, seaman, gob, Jack, tar - a man who serves as a sailor

Translations

loďmistr

bådsmand

Bootsmann

λοστρόμος

fedélzetmester

bátsmaîur

nostromo

bocmanas

bocmanis

båtsmann

loďmajster

lostromoporsum

boatswain

[ˈbəʊsn] N → contramaestre m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

boatswain

[ˈbəʊs^ən] n → maître m d'équipageboat train n → train m (assurant la correspondance avec un service de ferry)boat trip n (= excursion) → excursion f en bateau

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

boatswain

, bosun, bo’s’n

n → Bootsmann m; boatswain’s mate → Bootsmanngehilfe m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

boatswain

[ˈbəʊsn] n → nostromo

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

boatswain,

bosun

(ˈbəusn) noun

an officer who looks after a ship's boats, ropes, sails etc.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

There, I found a virtuous boatswain in his Majesty's service - a most excellent man, though I could have wished his trousers not quite so tight in some places and not quite so loose in others - who knocked all the little men's hats over their eyes, though he was very generous and brave, and who wouldn't hear of anybody's paying taxes, though he was very patriotic.

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We landed without any noise, and divided our men into two bodies, whereof the boatswain commanded one and I the other.

Well, they all went away, and though the attempt was desperate, and such as none but madmen would have gone about, yet, to give them their due, they went about it as warily as boldly; they were gallantly armed, for they had every man a fusee or musket, a bayonet, and a pistol; some of them had broad cutlasses, some of them had hangers, and the boatswain and two more had poleaxes; besides all which they had among them thirteen hand grenadoes.

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It was the boatswain. Jukes recognized these hands, so thick and enormous that they seemed to belong to some new species of man.

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I have a boatswain who pipes, Livesey; so things shall go man-o'-war fashion on board the good ship HISPANIOLA.

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The first approach to the land, as yet invisible to the crew's eyes, is announced by the brisk order of the chief mate to the boatswain: "We will get the anchors over this afternoon" or "first thing to-morrow morning," as the case may be.

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He was a native of Liverpool, in England, and had followed the sea from boyhood, until, by dint of good conduct, he had risen so far in his profession as to be boatswain of an American ship called the Eleanor, commanded by Captain Metcalf.

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The worthy fellow soon became the jester and merry-andrew of the boatswain's mess, where a berth had been kept for him.

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Towards evening the mate and boatswain begged the master of our ship to let them cut away the fore-mast, which he was very unwilling to do; but the boatswain protesting to him that if he did not the ship would founder, he consented; and when they had cut away the fore-mast, the main-mast stood so loose, and shook the ship so much, they were obliged to cut that away also, and make a clear deck.

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This was, it seems, the boatswain, a very civil, courteous sort of man, who told me I should have that, or any other liberty that I desired, that he could allow me with safety.

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All then proceeded to the poop, which was very handsomely decorated, and seated themselves on the bulwark benches; the boatswain passed along the gangway and piped all hands to strip, which they did in an instant.

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The boatswain advanced a tentative step, while murmurs of protest arose from the passengers.

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