as in leader
the person (as an employer or supervisor) who tells people and especially workers what to do
had a complaint and demanded to talk to the helmsman of this vast construction project, not some underling
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Recent Examples of helmsman
Burling, at 26, is the youngest helmsman to win sailing’s greatest prize in a competition that dates to 1851.
2021 — Tour de France: The largest pile up in Tour history is caused by a spectator with a sign during Stage 1.
—
Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 26 June 2025
The Australian Spithill is a former skipper and helmsman for BMW Oracle Racing, winning the America’s Cup in 2010, defending the cup twice, both times against Emirates Team New Zealand, first successfully in 2013, and unsuccessfully in 2017.
—Luisa Zargani, Footwear News, 26 May 2025
The helmsman, feeling swells beneath the vessel, gleans the proper heading, even in the dark.
—The Conversation, 14 May 2025
The umpires on the water will make subjective judgment calls that include deciding whether a collision was avoidable—that is, determining if the helmsman of one boat gave the other room and opportunity to maneuver to avoid the collision.
—Stan Honey, IEEE Spectrum, 29 Aug. 2013
See All Example Sentences for helmsman
Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 26 June 2025
The Australian Spithill is a former skipper and helmsman for BMW Oracle Racing, winning the America’s Cup in 2010, defending the cup twice, both times against Emirates Team New Zealand, first successfully in 2013, and unsuccessfully in 2017.
—Luisa Zargani, Footwear News, 26 May 2025
The helmsman, feeling swells beneath the vessel, gleans the proper heading, even in the dark.
—The Conversation, 14 May 2025
The umpires on the water will make subjective judgment calls that include deciding whether a collision was avoidable—that is, determining if the helmsman of one boat gave the other room and opportunity to maneuver to avoid the collision.
—Stan Honey, IEEE Spectrum, 29 Aug. 2013
See All Example Sentences for helmsman
Recent Examples of Synonyms for helmsman
Noun
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The crowd includes top business leaders, including Apple’s Tim Cook and NVIDIA's Jensen Huang.—
Kathryn Palmer,
USA Today,
29 Apr. 2026
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Senior defender Peyton Johnson, Elizabeth’s older sister, is Oswego’s other team leader.—
Patrick Z. McGavin,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Mentorship opens unexpected doors The shop foreman at Sam Pack encouraged him to take advantage of industry certification opportunities at Dallas College while also pursuing a degree.—
Robbie Owens,
CBS News,
24 Apr. 2026
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Chavez, who worked as a construction foreman at the lab in Los Alamos, New Mexico, disappeared in May 2025.—
Jeanine Santucci,
USA Today,
23 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Menin has supported Wilson, Bottcher’s former chief of staff, who had his ex-boss’s blessing in the race.—
Josephine Stratman,
New York Daily News,
29 Apr. 2026
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On behalf of everyone at Disney, on behalf of [new CEO] Josh [D’Amaro] and [Disney Entertainment, Studios, chairman] Alan Bergman and [FX boss] John Landgraf and Debra OConnell, our new head of Disney Entertainment Television.—
Michael Schneider,
Variety,
28 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Dejan Joveljic capitalized on a gift of a back-pass from the Sounders captain, and Sporting earned a result against a Sounders side that had failed to win only twice in 2026.—
Daniel Sperry,
Kansas City Star,
6 May 2026
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Since 1992, Ronnie has been the captain of this distinctive part of New Orleans’ culinary history.—
George Motz,
Southern Living,
6 May 2026
Noun
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The two Lake Forest public school districts are preparing for the 2026–27 school year with the hiring of a new safety chief and a future high school athletic director.—
Daniel I. Dorfman,
Chicago Tribune,
4 May 2026
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The second movie, which brought back the original director David Frankel and screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna, picks up as Hathaway’s Andy Sachs returns to Runway magazine as a features editor under Streep’s all-powerful editor-in-chief, Miranda Priestly.—
Rebecca Rubin,
Variety,
4 May 2026
Noun
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This new iteration was partly handled by Room40 label boss Lawrence English, who reconstructed the original master tapes and blended them with recent performances by Lockwood and Vanessa Tomlinson, who plays the gong.—
Joshua Minsoo Kim,
Pitchfork,
28 Apr. 2026
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Leaders of the gardens have been undergoing a master planning effort for more than a year in an effort to accommodate visitation of the botanical garden doubling to more than 300,000 people annually over the past decade.—
Ryan Gillespie,
The Orlando Sentinel,
28 Apr. 2026
Noun
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So McCarthy slid into the DMs (direct messages) of Artemis 2 commander and NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman.—
Josh Dinner,
Space.com,
9 May 2026
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Christopher Cann Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said in a public address that a strike on the Lebanese capital of Beirut killed a high-ranking Hezbollah commander.—
Michael Loria,
USA Today,
8 May 2026
Noun
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Rishabh Desai has been with the Clippers since 2016 and is now the executive director of basketball operations.—
Law Murray,
New York Times,
11 May 2026
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Sentiment was hurt by the rising price of gas caused by the war, according to survey director Joanne Hsu.—
Alex Harring,
CNBC,
10 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Helmsman.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/helmsman. Accessed 11 May. 2026.
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