stevedore
1 of 2noun
ste·ve·dore ˈstē-və-ˌdȯr 
also ˈstēv-ˌdȯr
: one who works at or is responsible for loading and unloading ships in port
stevedore
2 of 2verb
stevedored; stevedoring
transitive verb
: to handle (cargo) as a stevedore
also : to load or unload the cargo of (a ship) in port
intransitive verb
: to work as a stevedore
Synonyms
Noun
- docker [chiefly British]
- dockhand
- dockworker
- longshoreman
- roustabout
- rouster
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Noun on the wharves, stevedores were unloading cargo from the far corners of the world
Recent Examples on the Web
Nick Canepacolumnist, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Apr. 2022 By his twentieth birthday, having discovered that he wasn’t cut out for the back-breaking life of a longshoreman or stevedore, P.J. tried his hand as a brass finisher at an East Boston machine shop. Neal Thompson, Town & Country, 22 Feb. 2022 Drafted into the Army in 1943 at age 19, he was deployed to Europe as a stevedore in an all-Black unit. Washington Post, 9 Feb. 2022 Bearing a scythe, a hoe, and a stevedore’s hook, the women appear ready for action. Steven Litt, cleveland, 17 Oct. 2021 Stevedores board ships to operate the cranes mounted on deck, and the rotor sails seemed to be partially blocking this stevedore’s line of sight. New York Times, 24 June 2021 Weeksville is an extraordinary museum in central Brooklyn dedicated to the history of the free Black community that was founded there in 1838, when a Black stevedore named James Weeks first purchased the property. New York Times, 5 Mar. 2021 Mavrinac pushed back, saying the stevedore usually hands a handwritten plan to the crew, and that the crew uses that to account for the cargo present. Natasha Chen, CNN, 22 Sep. 2020 Simón quickly finds work as a stevedore, hauling sacks of grain. Ryu Spaeth, The New Republic, 18 May 2020 See More
Noun
More like San Pedro, with a working man, a stevedore — Boston College guard Zion Johnson. Nick Canepacolumnist, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Apr. 2022 By his twentieth birthday, having discovered that he wasn’t cut out for the back-breaking life of a longshoreman or stevedore, P.J. tried his hand as a brass finisher at an East Boston machine shop. Neal Thompson, Town & Country, 22 Feb. 2022 Drafted into the Army in 1943 at age 19, he was deployed to Europe as a stevedore in an all-Black unit. Washington Post, 9 Feb. 2022 Bearing a scythe, a hoe, and a stevedore’s hook, the women appear ready for action. Steven Litt, cleveland, 17 Oct. 2021 Stevedores board ships to operate the cranes mounted on deck, and the rotor sails seemed to be partially blocking this stevedore’s line of sight. New York Times, 24 June 2021 Weeksville is an extraordinary museum in central Brooklyn dedicated to the history of the free Black community that was founded there in 1838, when a Black stevedore named James Weeks first purchased the property. New York Times, 5 Mar. 2021 Mavrinac pushed back, saying the stevedore usually hands a handwritten plan to the crew, and that the crew uses that to account for the cargo present. Natasha Chen, CNN, 22 Sep. 2020 Simón quickly finds work as a stevedore, hauling sacks of grain. Ryu Spaeth, The New Republic, 18 May 2020 See More Word History
Etymology
Noun
Spanish estibador, from estibar to pack — more at steeve
First Known Use
Noun
1788, in the meaning defined above
Verb
1862, in the meaning defined at transitive sense
Phrases Containing stevedore
stevedore
noun
as in longshoreman
one who loads and unloads ships at a port on the wharves, stevedores were unloading cargo from the far corners of the world Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- longshoreman
- dockworker
- roustabout
- docker
- dockhand
- rouster
