n.
- A person who usually steers a ship's boat and has charge of its crew.
- A person in a racing shell who usually directs the rest of the crew.
To act as coxswain or serve as coxswain for.
[Middle English cokswaynne : cok, cockboat; see cockboat + swain, servant; see swain.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.