steersman

[ steerz-muh n ]

/ ˈstɪərz mən /

a person who steers a ship; helmsman.

a person who drives a machine.

Origin of steersman

before 1000; Middle English steresman, Old English stēoresmann, equivalent to stēor steering, helm (see steer¹) + -es 's¹ + man man¹

steers·man·ship, noun

In a small canoe with two paddlers and the faithful Ali for a steersman he would disappear for a few days at a time.

Almayer's Folly |Joseph Conrad
It looks very long, and the water, which the steersman says is only three feet deep, seems very far away and very deep.

Harper's Round Table, September 3, 1895 |Various
The Filipino steersman shifted from foot to foot, a dim moving shape at his shadowed post.

The Locusts' Years |Mary Helen Fee
The steersman was pulling on his coat while he sought among the crowd the faces of his more familiar friends.

The Last Hope |Henry Seton Merriman

The steersman, who was staring hard in the direction they were going, scowled.

Keziah Coffin |Joseph C. Lincoln

steersman

/ (ˈstɪəzmən) /

the helmsman of a vessel