Coxswain

//ˈkɒk.s(ə)n// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    In a ship's boat, the helmsman given charge of the boat's crew.
  2. 2
    the helmsman of a ship's boat or a racing crew wordnet
  3. 3
    The member of a crew who steers the shell and coordinates the power and rhythm of the rowers.
  4. 4
    The second or third mate of a vessel, in charge of the master's barge. archaic
  5. 5
    A rank or position.

    "Canadian Navy Coxswain (or Capitaine d'Armes) is the senior non-commissioned officer aboard a ship"

Verb
  1. 1
    To act as coxswain for. intransitive, transitive

    "to coxswain for a college rowing team"

Synonyms

All synonyms
coxautomatic pilotboatheaderboatsteererciceroneconner

Example

More examples

"The coxswain egged his crewmen on, and made a winning spurt at the last lap of the regatta."

Etymology

From Middle English cokswain; equivalent to cock (“a boat”) + swain (“boy, servant”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.