holdman

H4O1L1D2M3A1N1

noun

A man employed in the hold of a ship to load and unload cargo.

OriginMiddle English hold ← German Holdmann →
RareScrabble 13
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Meanings

holdman1

nounholdman (plural holdmen)

plural holdmen · alternative holdsman

  1. A man employed in the hold of a ship to load and unload cargo.

    However, because the winch drivers' competence is more visible than the holdmen's, winch drivers are more vulnerable to supervision even though options for handling incompetence are limited contractually.

    1997, David Wellman, The Union Makes Us Strong, page 154

Holdman2

proper nounHoldman (countable and uncountable, plural Holdmans)

plural Holdmans

  1. countableuncountableA surname.
  2. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States.

Origin

holdman · noun

From hold + -man.

Full word history & related roots →

Holdman · proper noun

  1. GermanHoldmann
  2. Middle Englishhold“loyal, faithful”
  3. EnglishHoldman

Various origins: * Occupational surname for a servant, from Middle English hold (“loyal, faithful”) + man (“man”). * Variant of the English surname Oldman. * Variant of German Holdmann.

More words from Middle English, German

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

holdman. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/holdman

MLA

“holdman.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/holdman. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “holdman,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/holdman.

Source: holdman on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.