Foretopman

Origin

foretop + -man

Full definition of foretopman

Noun

1. (nautical) A sailor who controls the masts in the foretop.
• 2009, March 8, Alessandra Stanley, The Vanishing Sidekick, WHEN Jimmy Fallon showed up on NBC ’s “Late Night” last week without a sidekick, it looked like yet another sign that the Ed McMahon era is over; so many talk show hosts work solo that the second-banana position seems almost as obsolete as the foretopman or the Linotype operator.