bosun
- n a petty officer on a merchant ship who controls the work of other seamen
- Decatur expected his bosun's mate to ask to be an officer.
- Gable Garson in a bosun-meets-bookworm comedy.
- In a clutch of sudden deaths, crucial signal lights, lies whitening into truths, loyalties rusting into funk, and rats deserting a sinking bosun, disbelief noses out tension and .