groundman

groundman (plural groundmen)

1. Alternative form of groundsman
   • 1897, Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji, The Jubilee Book of Cricket, page 248:

     As a matter of practice, most captains leave the rolling to the groundman, who may usually be trusted to know what is best, and act accordingly.

   • 1902, The machine is very simple in construction, compact in arrangement, and can easily be understood by any gardener or groundman., The Motor World - Volume 4, page 242:

   • 2019, Coningsby Dawson, The Garden Without Walls:

     He had extracted it from the groundman, who had extracted it from Sneard's gardener, who had extracted it from Sneard's housemaid, with whom he was on more than friendly terms—so of course it was authentic.

2. Alternative form of ground man
   • 1942, G. C. DeBaud, Pilots' and Mechanics' Aircraft Instrument Manual, page iii:

     The groundman and mechanic will find it of aid in passing the required examinations for the mechanics' license and ratings.

   • 1945 November and December, T. S. Lascelles, “The Semaphore Signal—3”, in Railway Magazine, page 345:

     Groundmen had to be employed to assist, and subsidiary signal boxes were required to watch over the condition of the platform roads and the yard lines, for there were no track circuits.

   • 1964, Electric Light and Power - Volume 42, page 71:

     While two linemen with aerial lift and one groundman completed one new structure, remainder of crew moved on to set poles for another structure.

   • 1987, Government Reports Announcements & Index, page 193:

     The groundman was in the bucket, and the foreman was on the ground.

   • 1997, S. S. Sharma, Citadel of Ice, Dakshin Gangotri, page 80:

     Under these circumstances, in order to avoid any accident and damage to the aircraft, the groundman responsible for marshalling the loads gave a signal to the pilot for ejecting the load, which prevented a possible disaster.

   • 1999, IBEW Journal - Volume 98:

     Alma Reed was hired as a groundman Sept. 7, 1971. progressing to apprentice lineman C on July 1. 1972. He transferred to groundman tree trimmer April 1, 1974.

   • 2008, James E. Crowder, A Time in the Sun, page 49:

     Because he was found to have insulin-dependent or type one diabetes, he couldn't be licensed to pilot airplanes, but he liked the excitement of being around the, "birds," as he called them, and agreed to work as an airframe/powerplant mechanic and groundman to set up advertising banners for aerial pickup during the peak tourist season.

• Rodman gun