sailor

noun

SAY-lur/ˈseɪ.lɚ/SAY-luh/ˈseɪ.lə/

6 meanings of sailor

1
nouncountable
A crew member on a ship who does the everyday work, not the captain or officers.
Like a worker on a team who follows the boss instead of being the boss.
The sailors hauled the lines tight as the storm closed in.
A young sailor took his turn at the night watch.
Similarseaman, mariner, seafarer, tar, jack
Note
2
nouncountable
A person whose job is sailing or steering ships and boats.
Her grandfather was a sailor who crossed the Atlantic many times.
The sailors steered the ship through the narrow channel.
Similarseaman, mariner, seafarer
Oppositelandlubber
Note
3
nouncountable
A person who sails boats with sails for fun or sport.
As a weekend sailor, she races her small boat on the lake.
My uncle became a sailor after he stopped working, and now he takes his little sailboat out every Sunday for fun.
Similarseaman, mariner, seafarer
4
nouncountable
A stiff straw hat with a flat top and a flat, round brim.
He wore a straw sailor to shade his face at the picnic.
Boxes of summer sailors filled the hat shop's shelves.
Similarboater
Note
5
nouncountable
A dark butterfly with white markings that often flies by gliding through the air.
Like a paper glider that floats on the air instead of flapping.
A sailor drifted across the clearing on barely-moving wings.
Sailors glide between the trees, flashing their pale markings.
Note
6
nouncountable
A brick stood up on its smallest end, with its widest side showing on the wall.
Like a book standing up on a shelf instead of lying flat.
The mason set a row of sailors above the door for decoration.
Each sailor stood upright with its wide face showing on the wall.

Practice

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Origin

It comes from an older English word 'sailer', made from 'sail' plus the ending '-or'.