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Glite Dictionary
shipfitter

shipfitter

1 9.3
A worker who makes and repairs metal parts on ships
  • noun
  • /ˈʃɪpˌfɪtər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : calderero
  • Dallas Jacobson was a mortgage specialist at Washington Mutual before landing his current job as a shipfitter at Pacific Fishermen Shipyard/PFI Marine Electric in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood.

Examples

  • "He works as a shipfitter at Pacific Fishermen Shipyard/PFI Marine Electric in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood.

    Blog text (19)

  • After a torrid romance and an equally stormy breakup with a shipfitter from Swan Island, she no longer wished for a husband with dangerous tendencies.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • As a skilled shipfitter, he expertly assembled the metal parts of the new vessel at the shipyard.

  • The shipyard hired several shipfitters to repair the hull of the old fishing boat before the season started.

  • Her father worked as a shipfitter, ensuring that all the metal structures on the ships were perfectly shaped and fitted.

How Skilled

shipfitter
  • Specialized
1 9.3
dockworker
5 4.2

Surface Forms

shipfitter singular
shipfitters plural

Morphology

shipfitter = ship + fitter (transparent) = ship + fit + er

The occupational term is transparently a compound of 'ship' and 'fitter' (and 'fitter' is itself 'fit' + '-er'), so the meaning is directly derivable from its parts.

Etymology

Shipfitter combines ship and fitter, where fit means 'to make parts join' or 'match', like fitting puzzle pieces together. That's why a shipfitter is a skilled worker who shapes and joins metal parts to build or repair a ship.