capstanman

English

Etymology

From capstan +‎ -man.

Noun

capstanman (plural capstanmen)

1. Someone who helped turn a capstan, or operated a powered capstan.
   • 1942 April, “Notes and News: The North Wales Coast Route”, in Railway Magazine, page 123:

     Telford constructed the 570-ft. span suspension bridge across the Menai Straits, 100 ft. above high water level. [...] The catenary chains, in four groups of four, are made of Staffordshire iron brought by canal to Chester and thence by steamship; they were erected by ferrying one end across the Straits on a raft and then pulling up with rope-blocks and capstans, with the capstanmen kept in step by music.