noun General Slang

Navvy

· noun · construction

A manual labourer, especially on heavy excavation or groundworks.

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Definitions

1

A heavy-graft manual labourer, historically the men who dug Britain's canals, railways, and roads by hand. Today still used for groundworkers and trench diggers. The word carries weight: navvies built the country with picks and shovels.

“We need a couple of navvies on the trench tomorrow.”
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2

By extension, a steam-powered or mechanical excavator, especially in older British usage. Shortened from 'steam navvy'.

“They brought a navvy in to clear the cutting.”
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Navvy In A Sentence

We need a couple of navvies on the trench tomorrow.
They brought a navvy in to clear the cutting.

Origin & Usage

Short for 'navigator', the 18th-century term for canal builders who dug the inland 'navigations'.

Variants navvies
Tags #construction#trades#british#labourer

People Also Ask

What does Navvy mean?

It's a term for a manual labourer, especially one working on heavy excavation or groundworks.

How do you use Navvy in a sentence?

"My grandad was a navvy who dug canals and railway cuttings by hand."

Where does Navvy come from?

It's short for 'navigator,' a term historically used for the labourers who dug Britain's canals (the 'navigations') and later railways.

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