as in longshoreman
one who loads and unloads ships at a port a trade embargo that was especially hard on the nation's dockhands

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of dockhand Two of the eight tainted Tylenol bottles came from Jewel stores in the northwest suburbs, though neither had passed through the Melrose Park warehouse where Arnold had long worked for Jewel as a dockhand. Chicago Tribune, 29 Sep. 2022 Alhonna is the genesis of the crime drama, where screenwriter Bill Dubuque worked as a dockhand in his youth at the comfortable, somewhat dated, lake retreat. Mike and Wendy Pramik, cleveland, 7 July 2022 Just stepping onto the log from the dock, then maintaining balance as the log was pushed out into the water by dockhands with poles, looked like a challenge. David G. Molyneaux, miamiherald, 19 Aug. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dockhand
Noun
  • If there are more longshoremen than job orders, a portion of them will go without pay.
    Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 9 June 2025
  • If there are more longshoremen than job orders, a portion of workers will go without pay.
    Caroline Petrow-Cohen, Los Angeles Times, 7 June 2025
Noun
  • His father was a stevedore and his mother an autodidact who aspired to something better than the prefab house where her family lived.
    Molly Fischer, New Yorker, 5 May 2025
  • Docks depended on a circulating pool of male maritime workers—crews of seamen and stokers who manned the tramp steamers, gangs of longshoremen, and stevedores who loaded and unloaded goods, as well as artisans and machinists who maintained and repaired the ships and trains.
    Michael Denning, Foreign Affairs, 21 Aug. 2015
Noun
  • The upcoming increase in cargo into would at least help dockworkers at the ports collect regular payments.
    Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 18 June 2025
  • The caps proved popular with dockworkers, shipwrights and bandits, and, over time, the baker boy hat became synonymous with the newsboy cap (which was actually worn by boys working at newsstands).
    Rosa Rahimi, CNN Money, 18 Apr. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Dockhand.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dockhand. Accessed 9 Jul. 2025.

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