different between fireman vs teazer

English

Etymology

fire +? -man

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?fa??m?n/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?fa??m?n/
• Hyphenation: fire?man

Noun

fireman (plural firemen)

1. (firefighting) Someone (especially one who is male) who is skilled in the work of fighting fire.
   • 1993, Nancy F. Cott (editor), History of Women in the United States. Historical Articles on Women's Lives and Activities. 15. Women and War, page 432:

     By February 1944 there were over two thousand women employed at the Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company [...]. There were also female firemen on almost every shipyard crane [...].

   • 30 June 2019 'Don't call us for cats stuck in trees', Fire Brigade warns (Daily Telegraph)

     For firemen everywhere rescuing cats from trees has been as much a part of the job as tackling blazing buildings.

2. (rail transport, nautical) A person (originally a man) who keeps the fire going underneath a steam boiler (originally, shoveling coal by hand), particularly on a railroad locomotive or steamship.
   • ca. 1913 The wreck of Old 97 [ballad, Blue Ridge Mountains], verse 3:

     He looked around his cab at his black greasy fireman, saying 'shovel on a little more coal, and when we cross that White Oak Mountain, you can watch Old 97 roll'.

   • 1938, Xavier Herbert, Capricornia, Chapter IX, p. 140, [1]

     No grass grew under a train when the engineer let Fireman McLash take the throttle.
3. (rail transport, by extension) An assistant on any locomotive, whether steam-powered or not.
4. (baseball) A relief pitcher.
5. (mining, historical) A safety inspector in coal mines.

Usage notes

• (firefighting): Historically only a man, but now used to refer to female firefighters as well. In modern usage, the gender-inclusive term firefighter is generally preferred.
• (rail transport): This term is commonly used for both males and females, firewoman is rarer in this sense.

Synonyms

• (firefighting): firefighter, smoke eater
• (railt ransport, nautical): bakehead (informal)

Hyponyms

• (firefighting): firewoman; hotshot, smokejumper

Related terms

Translations

See also

• tillerman
• stoker

Anagrams

• feminar, inframe

English

Etymology 1

Apparently an alteration of teaser, referring to it being lighter than formal punitive instruments.

Noun

teazer (plural teazers)

1. sennet whip, an implement for informal corporal punishment, formerly used in the Royal Navy.

Etymology 2

Corrupted from French tiser (“to feed a fire”).

Noun

teazer (plural teazers)

1. The stoker or fireman of a furnace, as in glassworking.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Tomlinson to this entry?)