Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Boatswain

Boatswain ({not transcribed}) , noun

[Boat + swain.]

1.
(Nautical) An officer who has charge of the boats, sails, rigging, colors, anchors, cables, cordage, etc., of a ship, and who also summons the crew, and performs other duties.
2.
(a) (Zoology) The jager gull.
(b)
(Zoology) The tropic bird.
Collocations (1)
Boatswain's mate , an assistant of the boatswain. — Totten