yeoman
noun
yeo·man
| \ ˈyō-mən
\
\
Definition of yeoman
1a
: an attendant or officer in a royal or noble household
b
: a person attending or assisting another : retainer
d
: a naval petty officer who performs clerical duties
2a
: a person who owns and cultivates a small farm
specifically
: one belonging to a class of English freeholders below the gentry
b
: a person of the social rank of yeoman
3
: one that performs great and loyal service
did a yeoman's job in seeing the program through
Examples of yeoman in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Guys with rakes are always working the field, like yeoman farmers. — Chris Erskinecolumnist, Los Angeles Times, "Postcard From L.A.: A classic ballyard that feels like home, even in the nosebleeds," 15 Aug. 2019 Wynn could help fill the very large void left by Trent Brown, who did yeoman’s work at left tackle last season. — Jim Mcbride, BostonGlobe.com, "Patriots trade for Atlanta tight end Eric Saubert," 12 Aug. 2019 Presti and the Thunder organization put in yeoman’s work keeping George in the fold. — Chris Mannix, SI.com, "Thunder Preparing for Fresh Start After Dealing Russell Westbrook to Rockets," 12 July 2019 My ancestors were petty tradesmen, yeoman farmers, bookbinders, glaziers, suspenders-makers, some of them (but not all of them) Jews, the kind of people more apt to play the part of the trampled than the trampler. — Jacob Mikanowski, Harper's magazine, "The Call of the Drums," 21 July 2019 But Sesay has done yeoman work in earning the trust of the girls, enabling her to recount their experiences with rare empathy. — Julia M. Klein, BostonGlobe.com, "A new book goes inside Boko Haram’s abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls," 8 July 2019 The postwar depression wreaked economic havoc among New England’s yeoman farmers. — Thomas Wendel, National Review, "The Beginning of a Nation," 4 July 2019 There’s no viable alternative, outside of relying on Cousins to be the yeoman (a dangerous proposition). — Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, "Kurtenbach: The 3 things the Warriors must do to force a Game 7," 12 June 2019 That’s a reference to Niels Bohr’s 1913 model of the simplest atom, which did yeoman’s work in explaining spectral measurements and anchoring the early field of quantum mechanics, in spite of the model’s loose fit with reality. — Quanta Magazine, "What’s the Magic Behind Graphene’s ‘Magic’ Angle?," 28 May 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'yeoman.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for yeoman
yeoman
noun
English Language Learners Definition of yeoman
: an officer in the U.S. Navy who works as a clerk
: a farmer in the past who owned a small amount of land
See the full definition for yeoman in the English Language Learners Dictionary
yeoman
noun
yeo·man
| \ ˈyō-mən
\
\
plural yeomen\ -mən \
Kids Definition of yeoman
1
: a petty officer in the navy who works as a clerk
2
: a person who owns and cultivates a small farm
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