navvy

Etymology

Clipping of navigator, in reference to the navigation canals upon which these workers first toiled, + -y.

noun

1. (chiefly UK, historical) A laborer on a civil engineering project such as a canal or railroad.
   Suppose two lads, fresh from school, go out into the world to earn their living; one becomes a navvy and one a clerk. In five years' time these two young men will probably be very different in appearance from one another. The navvy will have developed his muscles; he will be broad-built, broad-chested, and strong. 1909, B. Lindsay, Stories of the Universe: Animal Life
   The navvies of the Midland Railway toiled for years to build it, enduring grim conditions in shanty towns that were built miles from civilisation. But build it they did, to form part of the Midland's main line between London St Pancras and Carlisle via Sheffield and Leeds from 1876. May 20 2020, Philip Haigh, “Ribblehead: at the heart of the S&C's survival and its revival”, in Rail, page 26

verb

1. (intransitive, UK, historical) To carry out physical labor on a civil engineering project.
   But by pretending to believe he's navvied before, I've given him double reason to drive himself hard. 1974, Malcolm MacDonald, World From Rough Stones, published 2013, unnumbered page
   Before my time of navvying I believe the times were still worse. 1978, John Shaw Neilson, The Autobiography of John Shaw Neilson, page 104
   Three terms to use for George Eliot: the feminine imagination and sensibility; Intellect, the capacity for higher navvying; Intelligence. 1995, F. R. Leavis, Ian Duncan MacKillop, Richard Storer, editors, F.R. Leavis: Essays and Documents, published 2005, page 89