swamper
/ˈswɒmpə
/noun informal, dated
1North American An assistant to the captain of a riverboat or to a lorry driver.Because they could pull two wagons and a water tender if needed with a two-man crew, a teamster and a swamper, they cut desert freighting labor costs by half....
- To turn right in Vietnam, the signal light is thoughtfully activated, a swamper in the passenger seat warns the motorcycles of a right-hand turn with a downward waving of his hand, and the vehicle turns right - from the far left lane.
2North American A worker who trims felled trees and clears a road for lumberers in a forest.The boss, his lieutenants, the cook, and cookees sit in front; lowly ‘swampers,’ or road builders, with their double-bitted axes, stand out-of-focus at the rear.
3US A native or inhabitant of a swampy region.