matelot

noun

1. A sailor.

   “Nor were they long finding what they sought for; first the grub matter was hunted up, and go where you would, you was sure to meet lots of Matelo’s [matelots—sailors] wending their way to their various quarters, loaded to the bends with what they called Belly Timber.”

   ““‘Hellow,” says Jimmy, “here’s some dunnage as has belonged to some poor matelo’,” and with that he picks out a wad of somethin’ and begins for to open it.”

   “Matlo, name used to describe themselves by British bluejackets. Falling into disuse. Corruption of the French matelot.”

   “A sailor would refer to a soldier as a ‘“leatherneck," and a soldier would call a sailor a “flat-footed matlow.” […] I must really congratulate you upon the collectlve composition of your guests. First, we have the “flat-footed matlow” (laughter), who has aspirations that must be satisfied in this incarnation or in another”

   “[…] a chief petty officer, snarled something under his breath about bloody 'am-fisted matelots […]”

2. A mate; a boon companion.

adj

1. (attributive, not-comparable)Associated with or typical of sailors.

   “In minor key, but just as picturesque, were the uniforms of the port labouring staff—white sweat shirt, black matelot trousers and wide-brimmed straw hat with flat crown.”

   “A small, dark, ferretlike man in a sailor’s dark coat and a French matelot cap with a red pompom was behind her on the stairs.”

   “She wore the kind of wide trousers and matelot vest that used to feature so strongly in the fashion plates of the Thirties, those outdoor shots that Norman Parkinson liked to take in the South of France”