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lascar

[ las-ker ]

/ ˈlæs kər /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR lascar ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

an East Indian sailor.

Indian English. an artilleryman.

Also lashkar.

Origin of lascar

1615–25; < Portuguese, short for lasquarin soldier < Urdu lashkarī < Persian, equivalent to lashkar army + -ī suffix of appurtenance

Words nearby lascar

las vegas, las vegas night, lasa, lasagna, lasagne, lascar, lascaux, lascaux cave, lascivious, lasdun, lase

Example sentences from the Web for lascar

Here is a Lascar ashore from the big steamer that is to start for Alexandria on the morrow.

Sunrise |William Black
Here she was met by a brutal foreign seaman, a Lascar, who had deserted from one of the ships then lying in the Downs.

The Lifeboat |R.M. Ballantyne
A Lascar is standing by grinning, with a bucket of water and a deck-swab; they want to begin holystoning down the decks.

Round the Wonderful World |G. E. Mitton
The food belonged to Pambe, the Serang or head man of the lascar sailors.

Life's Handicap |Rudyard Kipling

A foreign seaman, a Lascar I should say, from his color; we found an open knife by his side.

Colonel Thorndyke's Secret |G. A. Henty

British Dictionary definitions for lascar

lascar

/ (ˈlæskə) /

noun

a sailor from the East Indies

Word Origin for lascar

C17: from Urdu lashkar soldier, from Persian: the army