▪ I. coxswain, cockswain, n.
(ˈkɒksweɪn, ˈkɒks(ə)n)
Also 5 cok-, koke-; 7–8 coxon, coxen.
[f. cock n.3 ship's boat + swain; cf. boatswain. The spelling coxswain (which would more logically be coxwain, since cox = cocks) has in the present century quite established itself in ordinary use. Thence also the familiar abbreviation cox, and vb. to cox.]
The helmsman of a boat; the person on board ship having permanent charge of a boat and its crew, of which he has command unless a superior officer is present.
In a man-of-war the Captain's coxswain, who has charge of the captain's boat and attends his person, ranks high among petty officers; the Admiral's coxswain in a flagship ranks still higher.
| α 1463 Mann. & Househ. Exp. 219 Gevyn..to the cokswaynne in almesce, j. d. 1481–90 Howard Househ. Bks. (Roxb). 68, I toke the kokeswayne of the Mary xx. d. 1633 T. James Voy. 82 The Cock-swaine and his Ging fetcht them. 1724 Lond. Gaz. No. 6289/1 A handsome Barge, with a Cockswain and 12 Men. 1842 F. Cooper Jack o' Lantern I. 157 ‘Bad fig’, sputtered Jacques, ‘Raoul's cockswain’. |
| β 1626 Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 5 The Coxswaine is to haue a choyce gang to attend the Skiffe, to go to and againe as occasion commandeth. 1748 Anson's Voy. iii. ix. 399 The boat's crew..were in number eighteen and the Cocxswain. 1871 Tyndall Fragm. Sc. (ed. 6) I. vi. 219 The captain placed at my disposal his own coxswain. |
| γ 1626 Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 35 The Coxon hath..3 [shares]. 1660 Pepys Diary 24 Apr., The Coxon of the Vice-Admiral came for me. 1708 Motteux Rabelais iv. xxiv. (1737) 100 Here, Coxen, get the Ladder over the Gunnel. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789), Cockswain or Coxen, the officer who manages and steers a boat. |
Hence ˈcoxswainless a., without a coxswain. ˈcoxswainship, skill in steering.
| 1882 Standard 20 July 2/8 The Thames Cup, for Coxwainless Fours. 1886 Pall Mall G. 10 July, There were singularly few mistakes made in the coxswainless races. 1885 Bell's Life 15 June 3/7 [They] lost their opportunity through bad coxswainship. |
▪ II. coxswain, v.
(kɒksweɪn, ˈkɒks(ə)n)
[f. the n.]
trans. To act as coxswain to (a boat); also intr. Hence ˈcoxswained ppl. a., having a coxswain; so of an event in which such boats compete.
| 1928 Daily Express 22 May 3/4 He..resumed the task of coxswaining the Brighton lifeboat. Ibid. 7 Aug. 12/6 In Heat 1 of the second round of the coxswained pairs. 1962 A. Silver Lett. S. Butler 39 At St John's the young man..coxswained for the crew of the Lady Margaret Boat Club. 1963 Times 20 May 4/5 Coxswained fours have always been a big feature of provincial rowing. |