bargewoman

Everyday

A bargewoman is a woman who lives on or steers a barge, a long flat-bottomed boat that carries goods on canals and rivers. tree →

In the lessons

In The Wind in the Willows, Toad, dressed as a washerwoman, gets a lift from a large bargewoman with a horse-drawn barge; when she finds he is a toad she throws him into the water, and he steals her horse. In history lessons about canals, whole families lived and worked on barges.

Examples

• The bargewoman steered the barge along the canal. tree →
• Toad pretended to be a washerwoman to the bargewoman. tree →
• The bargewoman's horse pulled the barge on the towpath. tree →
• Furious, the bargewoman threw Toad into the river. tree →
• Canal families, bargemen and bargewomen, lived on their boats. tree →
• The bargewoman laughed at Toad's poor washing. tree →

Note

Plural: bargewomen. Man: bargeman or bargee. A rare compound word.