How to use navvy in a sentence

11 example sentences · noun, verb

Navvy means a laborer on a civil engineering project such as a canal or railroad. Example: “Suppose two lads, fresh from school, go out into the world to earn their living; one becomes a navvy and one a clerk.”

Examples of navvy by meaning

nounA laborer on a civil engineering project such as a canal or railroad.

Suppose two lads, fresh from school, go out into the world to earn their living; one becomes a navvy and one a clerk.1909, B. Lindsay, Stories of the Universe: Animal Life
His proper trade's a navvy; and he works at it sometimes too—for exercise—and earns good money at it.1912 (date written), [George] Bernard Shaw, “Pygmalion”, in Androcles and the Lion, Overruled, Pygmalion, London: Constable and Company...
The navvies of the Midland Railway toiled for years to build it, enduring grim conditions in shanty towns that were built miles from civilisation.2020 May 20, Philip Haigh, “Ribblehead: at the heart of the S&C's survival and its revival”, in Rail, page 26

verbTo carry out physical labor on a civil engineering project.

But by pretending to believe he's navvied before, I've given him double reason to drive himself hard.1974, Malcolm MacDonald, World From Rough Stones, published 2013, unnumbered page
Before my time of navvying I believe the times were still worse.1978, John Shaw Neilson, The Autobiography of John Shaw Neilson, page 104
Three terms to use for George Eliot: the feminine imagination and sensibility; Intellect, the capacity for higher navvying; Intelligence.1995, F. R. Leavis, Ian Duncan MacKillop, Richard Storer, editors, F.R. Leavis: Essays and Documents, published 2005, page 89

More sentences with navvy

A score or so of sturdy navvies were shovelling and picking along the track.1912, Victor Whitechurch, Thrilling Stories of the Railway. From the entry weird
Construction was carried out by navvies armed with picks and shovels, with very little understanding of the underlying geology.2024 March 20, Richard Foster, “Vital experience in an open-air classroom”, in RAIL, number 1005, page 60. From the entry at the mercy of
Rough-neck is a capital word; it is more apposite and savory than the English navvy, and it is over-whelmingly more American.[1921 [1919], H. L. Mencken, chapter 15, in The American Language, 2nd edition, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, →ISBN, →OCLC. From the entry apposite
Yet, in the meaning of presumptuous, "bold" could reveal the poet's ambivalence, since in their impudence the navvies took liberties with nature by mammocking it.1987, Dutch Quarterly Review of Anglo-American Letters: DQR, page 104. From the entry mammock
"A rough place, my last district; sixty navvies on the Springbank deviation works, let alone eighty of these dole bugs to attend to."1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 21. From the entry deviation

Meaning of navvy

noun A laborer on a civil engineering project such as a canal or railroad.
noun An unskilled laborer.
verb To carry out physical labor on a civil engineering project.

Full definition of navvy

Questions about navvy in a sentence

How do you use navvy in a sentence?: Navvy is used as a noun and verb. For example: “Suppose two lads, fresh from school, go out into the world to earn their living; one becomes a navvy and one a clerk.”
What is a short sentence with navvy?: “Before my time of navvying I believe the times were still worse.”
What does navvy mean?: Navvy means a laborer on a civil engineering project such as a canal or railroad.

Adapted from Wiktionary: navvy (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use navvy in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/navvy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.