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Webster 1913 Edition

(?, colloq. ?)

Noun.

[

Cock

a boat +

swain

; hence, the master of a boat.]

The steersman of a boat; a petty officer who has charge of a boat and its crew.

Noun.

[See Swain.] An officer on board of a ship who has the care of the boat and the boats crew.

cockswain ‎(plural cockswains)