Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Nautical, a ship-surgeon's attendant, who compounds the medicines and assists the surgeon in his duties. In the United States navy called
bayman or nurse.
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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If a speck of dirt be found on the deck, or a gallipot or phial out of its place, woe betide the loblolly-boy, the assistant-surgeon's assistant, and the constant attendant upon the hospital.
The Lieutenant and Commander Hall, Basil, 1788-1844 1862
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The day _after_, when I was enjoying my arrest in the dignified idleness of a snooze in a pea-jacket, on one of the lockers, the loblolly-boy came to me, saying that Daunton was much worse, and that he humbly and earnestly requested to see me.
Rattlin the Reefer Edward Howard 1820
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The loblolly-boy, that is, the young man who had charge of the laboratory where all the medicines were kept, confessed, after a little hesitation, that for certain glasses of grog he had given this pernicious liquid to Daunton.
Rattlin the Reefer Edward Howard 1820
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After his mother shook him, members of the nobility with whom he was acquainted used their influence to get him the position of 'loblolly-boy in a ship;' and from that point my watchman threw off all trammels of date and locality and branched out into a narrative that bristled all along with incredible adventures; a narrative that was so reeking with bloodshed and so crammed with hair-breadth escapes and the most engaging and unconscious personal villainies, that I sat speechless, enjoying, shuddering, wondering, worshipping.
Life on the Mississippi, Part 1. Mark Twain 1872
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After his mother shook him, members of the nobility with whom he was acquainted used their influence to get him the position of 'loblolly-boy in a ship;' and from that point my watchman threw off all trammels of date and locality and branched out into a narrative that bristled all along with incredible adventures; a narrative that was so reeking with bloodshed and so crammed with hair-breadth escapes and the most engaging and unconscious personal villainies, that I sat speechless, enjoying, shuddering, wondering, worshipping.
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'loblolly-boy in a ship;' and from that point my watchman threw off all trammels of date and locality and branched out into a narrative that bristled all along with incredible adventures; a narrative that was so reeking with bloodshed and so crammed with hair-breadth escapes and the most engaging and unconscious personal villainies, that I sat speechless, enjoying, shuddering, wondering, worshipping.
Life on the Mississippi Mark Twain 1872
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Ye'r a varra capital vice-admiral of the red, Sir Gervaise, but I'm judging ye'd mak 'a varra indeeferent loblolly-boy. "
The Two Admirals James Fenimore Cooper 1820
chained_bear commented on the word loblolly-boy
Not often a boy; "An assistant who helps a ship's surgeon and his mates, so called after loblolly, the gruel commonly served in the sick-bay." So says A Sea of Words, p. 279
March 7, 2008