sailor boy
- noun
- /ˈseɪlər bɔɪ/
Examples
-
I see that you're a sailor boy.
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Why don't you grow up and learn a thing or two, sailor boy?
-
Mrs. Swanson said that some of the sailor boys were really just lovely, if you got to know them; they came from very fine families, really.
Fiction book (1998) -
The sailor boy stood proudly on the deck, ready to serve his country.
-
As a sailor boy, he learned how to navigate the rough seas with confidence.
-
Every sailor boy dreams of adventure and exploring the vast ocean.
Synonyms
A person who works in the navy on a military ship
A person who works on a ship as a crew member below the officers
A young officer in the navy who is training to work at sea
A person who works on a ship doing basic jobs
A man who serves in the navy
A sailor in the navy who is not an officer
A young person training to be an officer in the navy
A sailor who works on a ship
How Senior
- Specialized
- Archaic
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'sailor' (naval crew member) plus 'boy' (young male) yields 'a young or junior male sailor', which a B1 learner who knows both words can infer. This follows a standard noun-modifier pattern found across languages, so the sense is immediately comprehensible rather than idiomatic.
Etymology
The name sailor boy came from old ships where small boys worked on deck as sailors, carrying ropes and messages while they learned to sail. That's why sailor boy means a male sailor who is 'young' or 'junior'.