mid-15c., from late Old English batswegen, from bat "boat" (see boat (n.)) + Old Norse sveinn "boy" (see swain). Phonetic spelling bo'sun/bosun is attested from 1840.
BOATSWAIN. The warrant officer who in the old Navy was responsible for all the gear that set the ship in motion and all the tackle that kept her at rest. [Sir Geoffrey Callender, "Sea Passages," 1943]
实用例句
1. The head of Job Anderson , the boatswain, appeared at the middle loophole.
水手长 乔伯 -安德森的脑袋出现在了中间那个枪眼里.来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
2. Boatswain's and carpenter's tools over and above the Builder's standard.
超出建造方标准的额外的水手长和木工工具.来自互联网
3. We thought the boatswain a brute, and, practically, told him so.
