sea chantey
1
8.3
- noun
- /siː ˈʃæn.ti/
- UK
:
canción de marineros
- At midnight, Saturn was lying on his cabin's dirt floor, listening to the overseer bellow a sea chantey.
- sing sea chanteys
Examples
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During the long voyage, the crew would often break into a sea chantey to lift their spirits and pass the time.
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Boys, this calls for a celebratory sea chantey.
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In the meantime, please enjoy this classic gay sea chantey, The Rectum of Edmund Fits Gerald.
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The sailors sang a sea chantey to help coordinate their work while hoisting the sails.
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As the ship rocked gently on the waves, the fishermen joined in harmony, singing a traditional sea chantey to celebrate their catch.
Synonyms
3
8.8
A rhythmic song sailors sing while working on a ship
1
9.9
A rhythmic work song sailors sing to help them work together
1
9.9
A rhythmic song sailors sing to keep time while working on a ship
1
3.7
A song with a steady beat people sing to make repeating work easier, for example in fields or on ships
A song sailors sing while working to keep everyone in time
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a rhythmical work song sung by sailors' is directly compositional from 'sea' (nautical context) + 'chantey' (a sailor's work song), so a learner who knows both constituents can readily infer it denotes a sailor's song. The noun-noun compound follows a common place/type naming pattern and is cross-linguistically predictable, although 'chantey' is somewhat specialized vocabulary.
Etymology
The noun sea chantey may come from songs sailors sang at sea while they worked. A leader would call a line and the crew would answer in rhythm so everyone pulled together, so the phrase means a 'work song' to help sailors work together.