navvyn.1
/ˈnavi/, U.S. /ˈnævi/ 1. A construction worker; spec. a labourer employed in the construction of (originally) a canal, (now frequently) a road, railway, etc. Cf. navigator n. 2a and navigation n. 6.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > earth-movers, etc. > [noun] > one who digs other structures
hill-digger1521
sinker1584
pondcaster1602
navigator1775
dammer1816
navvy1829
muck-shifter1856
1829 P. Egan Boxiana New Ser. II. 412 The Navvy, thinking that one ‘good turn’ deserves another, fibbed Carroll.
1839 T. Roscoe & P. Lecount London & Birmingham Railw. vii. 55 These banditti, known in some parts of England by the name of ‘Navies’, or ‘Navigators’, and in others by that of ‘Bankers’.
1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. III. c. 408 The navvies of the two companies fought with shovels and pickaxes.
1914 S. Lewis Our Mr. Wrenn xi. 142 You can tell he's a real artist because he's dressed like a navvy.
1967 P. Bailey At Jerusalem i. 90 Matron might have been a navvy, the noise she made drinking.
1988 G. Patterson Burning your Own ii. 15 Hundreds of them: navvies, asphalters, boys for the drains and the water, others to lay the electric and the gas.
2. A mechanical excavator. Cf. steam-navvy n. at steam n. Compounds 7.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > earth-moving and excavating equipment > [noun] > excavator
steam shovel1801
steam trowel1801
excavator1843
earthmover1871
navvy1877
steam-navvy1881
backhoe1928
Traxcavator1940
back-acter1957
1877 Sci. Amer. 36 399 The navvy illustrated is capable of excavating..at the rate of 60 cubic yards per hour.
1884 Standard 11 Jan. 3/2 The cranes and mechanical navvy in the excavations.
1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 669/1 Power shovel (or navvy), an excavator consisting of a jib carrying a radial arm to the end of which a large bucket or scoop is attached.
1944 D. E. Warland Teach yourself Constructional Details i. 2 Bushes can be removed by a mechanical navvy.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
Navvyn.2
/ˈnavi/, U.S. /ˈnævi/ U.S. slang. (frequently depreciative).
= Navajo n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > ethnicities > North American peoples > peoples of South-Western America > [noun] > Nomadic peoples
Apache1726
Navajo1808
Kiowa1810
Yavapai1849
Jicarilla1850
White Mountain1885
Navvy1910
1910 Z. Grey Heritage of Desert i. 11 ‘Seen any Navvies?’ ‘Yes.’.. Apparently he was about to speak of the Navajos... But he checked himself.
1958 A. Bean Fancher Train 28 The Navvies are damn smart when it comes to breedin'.
1963 W. Y. Adams Shonto iii. 80 Navvies like everything just so; changing around upsets them.
1982 C. Buckley Steaming to Bamboola 112 She got used to the Navvies and they liked her.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
navvyv.
/ˈnavi/, U.S. /ˈnævi/ rare.† 2. transitive. To excavate. Obsolete.
1. intransitive. To work as a navvy; (in extended use) to do a low-paid or unskilled job. Also transitive: to make (one's way) by working as a navvy. Cf. navvying n.
ΚΠ
1897 G. Bartram People of Clopton 75 I staarted navvyin' me waay arter 'em—navvyin' an' traampin'.
1918 B. Ruck Disturbing Charm i. ii. 11 Charging them eight times what my price used to be when I navvied for that paper regularly.
1998 Re: Restoration by Volunteers in uk.rec.waterways (Usenet newsgroup) 19 Jan. Yes, sometimes this is the case, but people go navvying for fun—group activity, socialising, and lots of fresh air and beer.
ΚΠ
1897 M. Kingsley Trav. W. Afr. 138 They are at present..navvying a stiff clay bank.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.11829
n.21910v.1897