lengthman

Syllables: length·man/ˈlɛŋθmn̩/US/ˈlɛŋθˌm(ə)n/

lengthman noun: a man responsible for the care and maintenance of a length of canal, railway, or road.

Noun

lengthman (plural lengthmen)

(historical) A man responsible for the care and maintenance of a length of canal, railway, or road.
- Plans have already been prepared for signalboxes, lengthmen's huts, and first aid rooms. […] Lengthmen's huts are to be built in brick.1952 February, “British Railways Standard Buildings”, in Railway Magazine, page 74
- A derailment which occurred on April 18 last between Laindon and Pitsea on the London Tilbury & Southend Line was caused by a lengthman who in a moment of aberration clipped a set of spring catch points in the derailing position, concludes Col. J. R. H. Robertson in his report […]1961 December, “Talking of Trains: Derailment near Laindon”, in Trains Illustrated, London: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 717

From length + -man (suffix denoting a man or person who is an expert in an area or who takes part in an activity).

What does lengthman mean?: Lengthman means a man responsible for the care and maintenance of a length of canal, railway, or road.
What part of speech is lengthman?: Lengthman is a noun.
How do you pronounce lengthman?: Lengthman is pronounced /ˈlɛŋθmn̩/ (UK).
What is the plural of lengthman?: The plural of lengthman is lengthmen.

Adapted from Wiktionary: lengthman (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-lengthman.wav.

Cite this entry: “lengthman.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lengthman. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.