Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The leader of a chantey, who usually sings one or two lines while the men get their breath and a new-hold, the crew singing the chorus and pulling together when the accented syllable is reached.
Etymologies
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Examples
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The slovenly Achill man, who would face death with a grin, the shambling Highlander who on occasion could spring to the shrouds like a cat; the old bos'un who had been for years a castaway on Tierra del Fuego; the wizened chantey-man with his melodeon, who could put new vigor into tired backs, with his long-drag chanteys, like
The Wind Bloweth Brian Oswald Donn-Byrne 1908
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The crew of the _Enchantress_ stood about her capstan and their chantey-man, ready to sing when the swivel should peal and her burgee run down; but the Gilmore group were too far aft to see them.
Gideon's Band A Tale of the Mississippi George Washington Cable 1884
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Her negro crew swarmed round her capstan with their chantey-man on its head and sent over the gliding waters the same stalwart perversion of the wilderness hymn of "Gideon's Band" to which the twins had danced the night before.
Gideon's Band A Tale of the Mississippi George Washington Cable 1884
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