Dictionary

stoker en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈstoʊkɚ/ (General-American)
• /ˈstəʊkə/ (UK)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Middle Dutch stoker (“stoker”), from Middle Dutch stoken (“to stoke, incite”, literally “to poke, jab, thrust”), ultimately equivalent to stoke + -er. More at stoke. Compare typologically Russian кочега́р (kočegár) (akin to кочерга́ (kočergá, “poker”)).

Meanings

1. A person who stokes, especially one on a steamship or steam train, who stokes coal in the boilers.
   • For this was a line so little frequented, especially at this hour, when the driver, the stoker, the guard and the station staffs all along the line, were anhelating towards their wives, after the long hours of continence, that the train would hardly draw up, when it would be off again, like a bouncing ball. 1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLC:
   • He held strongly to the black-ganger's philosophy - what is the use of all the radar and guns and torpedoes if you don't have the engineers and stokers to put them in the right position? 1960, J.E. Macdonnell, Escort Ship, Sydney: Horwitz Publications, published 1972, page 22:
2. A device for stoking a fire; a poker.
3. A device that feeds coal into a furnace, etc., automatically.
   • As we reported was to occur, two of Saltley's stoker-fitted 2-10-0s, Nos. 92165/7, have been stripped of their stokers at Crewe works. 1962 April, “Motive power miscellany: London Midland Region”, in Modern Railways, page 278:
4. A person who pedals on the back of a tandem bicycle.

Forms

Deriveds

stokerless stokes · stoker-fired · mechanical stoker

Relateds

fireman

Synonyms

firestick (fireplace utensil) · poker (fireplace utensil)

Translations (50)

sk kurič (person who stokes) · de Heizer (person who stokes) · tr ateşçi (person who stokes) · ja 火手 (person who stokes) · cs topič (person who stokes) · he מַסִּיק (person who stokes) · cmn 司爐 /司炉 (person who stokes) · pl palacz (person who stokes) · sh lòžāč (person who stokes) · da søfyrbøder (person who stokes) · pt fornalheiro (person who stokes) · lv kurinātājs (person who stokes) · es fogonero (person who stokes) · izh kocegara (person who stokes) · be качага́р (person who stokes) · ca fogoner (person who stokes) · ja 火夫 (person who stokes) · ar عَطَشْجِيّ (person who stokes) · bg огня́р (person who stokes) · fi lämmittäjä (person who stokes) · ru кочега́р (person who stokes) · ota آتشجی (person who stokes) · hu fűtő (person who stokes) · nb fyrbøter (person who stokes) · ro fochist (person who stokes) · ru истопни́к (person who stokes) · it fuochista (person who stokes) · sl kurjač (person who stokes) · uk кочега́р (person who stokes) · pt foguista (person who stokes) · ms pendandang (person who stokes) · ka ცეცხლფარეში (person who stokes) · sv eldare (person who stokes) · fr chauffeur (person who stokes) · ro focar (person who stokes) · pl palacz kotłowy (person who stokes) · az ocaqçı (person who stokes) · ota كولخانجی (person who stokes) · ko 화부 (person who stokes) · el θερμαστής (person who stokes) · lt kūrikas (person who stokes) · hy հնոցապան (person who stokes) · be апа́льшчык (person who stokes) · et kütja (person who stokes) · nl stoker (person who stokes) · uk опа́лювач (person who stokes) · mk ложач (person who stokes) · eo hejtisto (person who stokes) · es atizador (person who stokes) · sh ло̀жа̄ч (person who stokes)