navy man
- noun
- /ˈneɪvi mæn/
- Rick Marshall is a proud Navy man who serves on an aircraft carrier.
- retired Navy man
- father was a Navy man
- former Navy man
Examples
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The man at the front desk was a retired Navy man with tattooed forearms and a military haircut.
Fiction book (2002) -
My father's a navy man.
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Sir, I am a Navy man.
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Are you a navy man?
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-Why every Navy man I ever met was a very fine fellow.
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I am the daughter of a professional Navy man and really appreciate seeing things as they were.
Blog text (34) -
"Her father had been a navy man.
Fiction book (1997) -
And your father was a Navy man, Irish.
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There's an American Navy man here.
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My dad and uncles were Navy men, one who fought on Guadalcanal.
Blog text (11)
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 sailor in the navy who is not an officer
A young man who serves in the navy
A sailor who works on a ship
Antonyms
How Senior
- Specialized
- Specialized
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a male member of a navy' is directly and compositionally derived from 'navy' (sea-based military service) + 'man' (adult male). This straightforward noun + noun combination follows normal English compounding patterns and is cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would understand it.
Etymology
Navy man comes from joining navy (the country's ships) and man, so you can picture a man who works on those ships. That's why it means 'a man serving in a country's naval forces'.