mainmastman

English

Etymology

mainmast +‎ -man

Noun

mainmastman (plural mainmastmen)

1. A sailor assigned to the mainmast
   • 1863, William H. Parker, Questions on Practical Seamanship: together with harbor routine and evolutions prepared for the midshipmen of the C. S. Navy‎^[1], Richmond, Virginia, page 40:

     […] the mainmastmen unhook the tackles when the barrels are landed.

   • 1924, Herman Melville, chapter 8, in Billy Budd‎^[2], London: Constable & Co.:

     Now there was a veteran aboard who because his years began to disqualify him for more active work had been recently assigned duty as mainmastman in his watch, looking to the gear belayed at the rail roundabout that great spar near the deck.

   • 1979, Fishing Gazette‎^[3], volume 96:

     Twenty-two years ago David Harrington was mainmastman on the Saint Ann out of Gloucester, Mass., a 62-foot Desco wood shrimp boat rigged for purse seining and built in 1954 for Capt. Leo Favalora.