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lockman

noun

Etymology

From lock + man.

  1. inherited from *mon-✻ — “human being, man”
  2. inherited from *mann-✻ — “man”
  3. inherited from *mann✻
  4. inherited from mann — “human being, person, man”
  5. inherited from man
  6. compounded as lockman — “lock + man”

Definitions

  1. A public executioner.

    • In 1780 James Alexander, lockman of Edinburgh, was by the city chamberlain paid for service at an execution 13s. 4d., with a fee of 2s. 6d. for the use of his rope.
    • At his back, the lockman reached up to grasp the noose dangling from the beam.

  2. An officer who acts as a kind of undersheriff to the governor.

    • the defendent must be summoned by the Coronor or his deputy (a lockman) to appear at the next court day, when the action is called in rotation.
    • I have gone down to vote for a clerk or a lockman; we have pressing letters to go down and vote for a lockman sometimes.
    • A lockman is appointed for each parish, and acts as deputy or assistant to the coroner.

  3. A criminal who is skilled at picking locks and disabling alarm systems.

    • The other thing is, a lockman. We need somebody really good, to follow the schematics I got and shut down all the alarms without kicking them on instead.
  4. ›+ 2 more definitions

    1. A man who operates a lock on a waterway.

      • Near-synonyms: locktender, lockkeeper, lockmaster
      • A lockman while attempting to jump on board the steamer "St. Francis," missed his footing and fell into the canal.
      • The buildinghas been used as a schoolhouse for children of canal employees for several years, but upon the appointment of a lockman for that lock the house was needed for his residence.

    2. A surname.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for lockman. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA