stoker

noun

stok·​er ˈstō-kər How to pronounce stoker (audio)
1
: one employed to tend a furnace and supply it with fuel
specifically : one that tends a marine steam boiler
2
: a machine for feeding a fire

Examples of stoker in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Docks depended on a circulating pool of male maritime workers—crews of seamen and stokers who manned the tramp steamers, gangs of longshoremen, and stevedores who loaded and unloaded goods, as well as artisans and machinists who maintained and repaired the ships and trains. Michael Denning, Foreign Affairs, 21 Aug. 2015 In 1906, Freuchen, a 20-year-old medical student at the University of Copenhagen, enlisted in an expedition to Greenland as a ship’s stoker. Dominic Green, WSJ, 10 Mar. 2023 But the stoker — or rear rider — has plenty of responsibilities as well, Sassler said, including riding consistently while following the captain’s lead despite often being unable to see the roadway ahead. BostonGlobe.com, 10 Nov. 2022 The charismatic Jeffrey Kringer, as the stoker Barrett, and Cooper Grodin, as the ship's designer Andrews, are both upgrades on their predecessors. Jim Higgins, Journal Sentinel, 26 Sep. 2022 But several new performers in key roles, including Alex Keiper as Alice, the second-class passenger who longs to experience the lives of millionaires, and Jeffrey Kringer as Barrett, the stoker, will give this voyage its own flavor. Jim Higgins, Journal Sentinel, 19 Sep. 2022 The party and its allies spent millions in the primary promoting GOP state Sen. Ron Hanks, a stoker on the Trump crazy train, in hopes of landing him as Bennet’s opponent. Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 26 July 2022 Riggott and Rivas also started riding together as a blind stoker team that year. San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 July 2021 In October 1881 Manet received authorization from the Compagnie des chemins de fer de l’Ouest to visit the Batignolles railway depot to make studies of a driver and a stoker at work, in preparation for a painting for the Salon. Colin B. Bailey, The New York Review of Books, 17 Nov. 2020

Word History

First Known Use

1660, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of stoker was in 1660

Dictionary Entries Near stoker

Cite this Entry

“Stoker.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stoker. Accessed 15 Jan. 2025.

Biographical Definition

Stoker

biographical name

Sto·​ker ˈstō-kər How to pronounce Stoker (audio)
Bram 1847–1912 Irish writer

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