polesman

8.1

A person who moves a boat by pushing with a long pole, often in shallow water

noun
/ˈpoʊlzˌmæn/

: remador

The polesman skillfully maneuvered the boat through the shallow waters of the river.

Examples

As a skilled polesman, she used her long pole to guide the raft away from the rocks.
On quiet mornings, the polesman pushed the canoe gently along the narrow, winding creek.
In the stern of the boat, the polesman stands in the watchful solemnity of his task.

Fiction book (1995)
Indoors, in the beautiful high shadowy room where Farre now lay in the bed still warm from his wife's sleep, the physician stood by the bedside, as grave, intent, and careful as the polesman had stood in the stern of the channel boat.

Fiction book (1995)

Synonyms

punter

vspolesman

9.1

A person who uses a long pole to move a flat boat on shallow water

applies to any boat or raft rather than only flat-bottomed vessels

poler

vspolesman

8.7

A person who moves a boat by pushing a pole against the bottom of a river or canal

uses a pole to move or steer without necessarily pushing on the bottom

Surface Forms

polesman singular

polesmen plural

Morphology

polesman = pole + man (transparent) = pole + man

The meaning is directly derivable as 'a person who uses a pole' (compound of 'pole' + 'man'); any linking 's' does not affect interpretation.

Etymology

Polesman is made of pole and man, where pole means 'long stick' and man means 'person'. So a polesman is someone who uses a long pole to push or steer a boat in shallow water, like a person guiding a raft through a river.