Word.ws English Dictionary

steam navvies

steam navvies is the plural of steam navvy.

Meaning of steam navvy

Noun

steam navvy (plural steam navvies)

  1. (historical) A steam-powered excavator used in making docks, canals, etc.
    • Three steam navvies, 350 men, 5 locomotives, and 120 wagons, were employed to remove the one and a half million tons of debris.1940 July, “The Why and the Wherefore: Chevet Tunnel Demolition, L.M.S.R.”, in Railway Magazine, page 430

Questions about steam navvies

What is steam navvies the plural of?
Steam navvies is the plural of steam navvy.

Words near steam navvies in the dictionary

  1. steam locomotive
  2. steam locomotives
  3. steam locos
  4. steam lorries
  5. steam lorry
  6. steam navvies
  7. steam navvy
  8. steam off
  9. steam organ
  10. steam organs
  11. steam piano

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: steam navvies (page history and authors); steam navvy (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:

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