Meanings
plural dockworkers · alternative dock worker
- A person who works on the dock of a harbor or shipyard, usually employed to load or unload freight.
The East Coast dockworkers understand what’s happening around the world.
2024 October 1, Heather Long, “The real reason 47,000 dockworkers are on strike”, in The Washington Post, archived from the original on 01 Oct 20241 more example
Red Hook is fabled dockworker territory, not necessarily for inspirational reasons. The mob violence and union corruption that long defined the piers were part of the underpinnings of the classic 1954 movie “On the Waterfront.”
2009 August 13, N. R. Kleinfield, “Dockworkers See Shoe on Other Foot After a Scandal”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 01 May 2015Synonyms: docker, stevedore, longshoreman, wharfie
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA person who works on the dock of a harbor or shipyard, usually employed to load or unload freight.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna laborer who loads and unloads vessels in a port
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Dutchdocke
- Dutchdok
- Englishdock
- Proto-Indo-European*werǵ-
- Proto-Indo-European*wr̥ǵyéti
- Proto-Germanic*wurkijaną
- Proto-West Germanic*wurkijan
- Proto-Indo-European*werǵ-
- Proto-Indo-European*wérǵom
- Proto-Germanic*werką
- Proto-Germanic*wirkijaną
- Proto-West Germanic*wirkijan
- Old Englishwyrċan
- Middle Englishworchen
- Middle Englishwerkere, worchere
- Englishworker
- Englishdockworker
Translations
Bulgarian до́кер
- до́кер (dóker)worker at a dock
Chinese Mandarin 碼頭工人 /码头工人
- 碼頭工人 /码头工人 (mǎtou gōngrén)worker at a dock
Czech dokař
- dokařworker at a dock
Finnish satamatyöntekijä, satamatyöläinen
- satamatyöntekijäworker at a dock
- satamatyöläinenworker at a dock
- ahtaajaworker at a dock
French docker
- dockerworker at a dock
German Hafenarbeiter
- Hafenarbeiterworker at a dock
Irish dugaire
- dugaireworker at a dock
Italian stivatore
- stivatoreworker at a dock
Japanese 港湾労働者
- 港湾労働者 (kōwan rōdōsha)worker at a dock
Polish portowiec, doker
- portowiecworker at a dock
- dokerworker at a dock
Portuguese estivador
- estivadorworker at a dock
Romanian docher
- docherworker at a dock
Russian до́кер, порто́вый рабо́чий
- до́кер (dóker)worker at a dock
- порто́вый рабо́чий (portóvyj rabóčij)worker at a dock
- порто́вый гру́зчик (portóvyj grúzčik)worker at a dock
Swedish hamnarbetare
- hamnarbetareworker at a dock
Vietnamese khuân vác
- khuân vácworker at a dock
Cite this entry
dockworker. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dockworker
“dockworker.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dockworker. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dockworker,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dockworker.
Source: dockworker on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.