sea lawyer


nounNautical Slang.
  1. a sailor inclined to question or complain about the orders given.

Origin of sea lawyer

1
First recorded in 1805–15

Words Nearby sea lawyer

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use sea lawyer in a sentence

  • Ezra was still thinking it over when the captain told him to harness sea lawyer for a drive to Endicutt.

    Cursed | George Allan England
  • A supposed grievance arises, the men have a meeting, and the sea-lawyer begins to stir them up, big in his opportunity.

  • Something of a sea-lawyer, he is one of the sharpest-brained—I don't say deepest-thinking—men I have ever come across.

    A Poor Man's House | Stephen Sydney Reynolds
  • In such manner John Lewis, commonly known as the "sea-lawyer," settled the matter out of hand.

  • I decided that now was the time to take care of this sea lawyer.

    The Flying Bo'sun | Arthur Mason

British Dictionary definitions for sea lawyer

sea lawyer

noun
  1. nautical slang a contentious seaman

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012