lockman

From lock +‎ man.

lockman (plural lockmen)

1. (Scotland, archaic) A public executioner.
   • 1884, Charles Rogers, Social Life in Scotland: From Early to Recent Times, page 54:

     In 1780 James Alexander, lockman of Edinburgh, was by the city chamberlain paid for service at an execution 13s. 4d., with a fee of 2s. 6d. for the use of his rope.

   • 2022, Douglas Skelton, An Honourable Thief:

     At his back, the lockman reached up to grasp the noose dangling from the beam.

   • 2024, Allan Kennedy, Susanne Weston, Life at the Margins in Early Modern Scotland, page 127:

     In contrast, Spanish hangmen had their houses painted bright red, and in France, Italy, and the Netherlands executioners' homes were located as far as possible from the main population and significant political spaces, most often being placed outside of city walls. Here, in the Scottish capital, however, the lockman was purposefully lodged just meters from the burgh's civic, spiritual, and political heart of the mercat cross, St Giles' Cathedral, and Parliament House.

2. (Isle of Man) An officer who acts as a kind of undersheriff to the governor.
   • 1860, M.P. Backwell, Backwell's Illustrated Guide to the Isle of Man, etc., page 50:

     the defendent must be summoned by the Coronor or his deputy (a lockman) to appear at the next court day, when the action is called in rotation.

   • 1865, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons, Reports from Committees - Volume 12, page 52:

     I have gone down to vote for a clerk or a lockman; we have pressing letters to go down and vote for a lockman sometimes.

   • 1900, Arthur William Moore, A History of the Isle of Man - Volume 2, page 746:

     A lockman is appointed for each parish, and acts as deputy or assistant to the coroner.

   • 1978, Isle of Man. Tynwald. Legislative Council, The Times Reports of Debates in the Manx Legislature, page K-454:

     You see, at the present time a coroner is appointed to a sheading but a lockman only to a parish, so this will bring them both into line.

3. A criminal who is skilled at picking locks and disabling alarm systems.
   • 2011, Donald E Westlake, Good Behavior:

     The other thing is, a lockman. We need somebody really good, to follow the schematics I got and shut down all the alarms without kicking them on instead.

4. A man who operates a canal lock.
   • 1879, William Smith, “Report of the Montreal River Police, For the Fiscal Year Ended 30th June, 1878”, in Sessional Papers of the Canadian Parliament, volume 12, number 4, page 362:

     A lockman while attempting to jump on board the steamer "St. Francis," missed his footing and fell into the canal.

   • 1904, Major Newcomer, Report of the Chief of Engineers, page 2387:

     The buildinghas been used as a schoolhouse for children of canal employees for several years, but upon the appointment of a lockman for that lock the house was needed for his residence.

   • 1981 August, Verne Peters, “Return to the River”, in Cruising World, volume 7, number 8, page 95:

     The next day, at the Winfield Lock, a smiling young lockman waved us in.

   • 2021, William E. Ellis, The Kentucky River:

     Lock operations required both the lockmaster and lockman, often supplemented by deckhands on a towboat.

• manlock