fireboy
- noun
- Archaic
- In the old steam train, the fireboy's job was crucial for maintaining the fire in the boiler.
Examples
-
The fireboy carefully stoked the flames to keep the engine running smoothly.
-
It seemed the engine took all day to cover that distance, and I remember seeing the fireboy.
Fiction book (1999) -
You're a clever fuck, fireboy.
Fiction book (2000) -
(Coming back for you by fireboy dml playing)
-
As the fireboy worked diligently next to the furnace, he ensured that the coal was always replenished.
Synonyms
A person who keeps the engine fire burning on steam trains
A person who tends and adds coal to a furnace on a steam train or ship
A woman who shovels coal to keep the steam engine working on a train or ship
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Fireboy is made from the simple parts fire and boy and once named a young person who kept the fires in a house burning. So a fireboy was literally a 'boy' for the 'fire', which explains why the word means someone employed to tend and maintain a fire.