landlubber
- noun
- /ˈlændˌlʌbər/
- Informal
- The group of landlubbers looked nervously at the open sea, unsure of what to expect on their first voyage.
- crew of landlubbers
Examples
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Avast, you landlubbers!
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They began their indoctrination of this landlubber by taking me straight out into the bay.
Academic text (1994) -
Well, I'm kind of sick of being a landlubber anyway.
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Then we'll leave this neighborhood of landlubbers and head for the coast, where it's hello good times.
Fiction book (1998) -
Get to your battle stations, you landlubbers.
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What do you landlubbers know about sailing the Coral Sea?
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And after aeons of oceanic adventure, I find myself a landlubber... with Manitoba as my final port.
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Typical landlubbers.
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Landlubbers can play croquet, go horseback riding, bicycle on extensive trails, or play tennis on over 1,100 courts.
Academic text (1993) -
During the sailing trip, the seasoned captain patiently taught the landlubbers how to tie knots and navigate the waters.
Synonyms
A person new to sailing who is clumsy and makes mistakes
A man new to working at sea, often on his first trip
A woman new to working on a ship, often on her first trip at sea
Antonyms
How Seafaring
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
The word landlubber combines land ('land') and lubber (an old word for a 'big, clumsy person'), and sailors used it to mock people who stayed on land and could not handle a ship. So a landlubber today means someone not used to the sea or life on a ship.