spade man

• spade-man, spademan

• Rhymes: -æn

spade man (plural spade men)

1. A man who works with a spade.
   • 1907, Annual Report of the Indiana State Board of Agriculture, page 429:

     Keep up cultivation and hoeing until it freezes and then give them a good coat of mulch, then trust to God for the balance, and He will, I assure you, reward your efforts with berries that will capture and hold any market you desire to put them in at from one-half to one-third more per quart than the spade man can get.

   • 1944, United States. Bureau of Naval Personnel. Training Division, Naval Ordnance and Gunnery, page 136:

     After the ejected case has cleared the loading tray, the spade man depresses the spade release lever to drop the spade.

   • 2010, Deirdre Purcell, Children of Eve: An unforgettable novel about a family in crisis:

     He holds both arms out from his sides as if to show he's not armed (is this really not TV?), then comes flying backwards through the door again, almost taking the spade man with him as he tumbles down the steps, managing just to stay on his feet.