sailor
/ˈseɪlə
/noun
1A person whose job it is to work as a member of the crew of a commercial or naval ship or boat, especially one who is below the rank of officer: Hawaii was an important stopping point for sailors to restock provisions...
- The sailors on the patrol boat thought I was going to fall, so grabbed me by my clothes.
- As dawn broke, with the master's consent, sailors from the USS Bunker Hill boarded the vessel.
- He looked ahead and a saw a large crowd of sailors gathering around a docked ship.
Synonyms
seaman, seafarer, seafaring man, mariner;
boatman, yachtsman, yachtswoman;
hand, crew member
informal (old) salt, sea dog, bluejacket
British informal matelot, matlow, matlo
informal, dated tar, Jack Tar, hearty
(sailors) crew, complement
1.1 [usually with adjective or noun modifier] A person who goes sailing as a sport or recreation: he is a keen sailor in his spare time...
- She had wide interests, was a keen dinghy sailor and took an active part in youth welfare.
- Teddy had always been a keen and intrepid sailor, and after retiring he went to live in St Mawes where he had first learned to sail as a boy.
- He was a member of the sailing club and stalwart sailor and racer who lost his life at sea last year.
1.2 (a good/bad sailor) A person who rarely (or often) becomes sick at sea in rough weather.Hamnavoe is a great ship, I'm not a good sailor, but I have never been sick on it yet even in rough weather, which was not the case with the Ola....
- I'm not a good sailor and am bringing along a good supply of patches, dramamine, and ginger pills; sounds like they'll be essential since we'll embark from Ushuaia. Do you have any other suggestions for minimizing seasickness?
Derivatives
sailorly
- Fielding took a large swig from the mug in true sailorly fashion.
- I found health and happiness living free in the sailorly life on unpolluted oceans, and you can, too.
- Tom Waits's 1985 album Rain Dogs contains the lyric "Sixteen men on a dead man's chest" and other piratical and sailorly phrases.
sailoring
Origin
Mid 17th century: variant of obsolete sailer.