Definition of dockhandnext
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
  • Consumers, including the longshoremen and their families, would enjoy lower costs and better service.
    Zack Kass, Fortune, 23 Jan. 2026
  • Miranda notes that the entire furniture ecosystem involves American citizens who could be hurt by tariffs — everyone from the longshoremen at the ports where imports arrive, to the truck drivers, warehouse workers and store employees.
    Matt Egan, CNN Money, 14 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • But then what’s with all the stevedores from central casting?
    Helen Shaw, New Yorker, 14 Dec. 2025
  • As part of these reforms, the Royal Navy impounded dozens of merchant vessels for allegedly evading customs duties, enraging merchants as well as mariners, shipwrights, stevedores, and others in port cities whose livelihoods depended on foreign commerce.
    Time, Time, 9 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • But the statement was not exclusively directed toward the government, but to the dockworkers’ unions as well.
    Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 5 Feb. 2026
  • In October 2024, nearly 50,000 longshoremen, or dockworkers, along the U.S. East Coast walked off the job in one of the largest strikes in modern labor history.
    Zack Kass, Fortune, 23 Jan. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Dockhand.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dockhand. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.

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