A railroad worker or train operator responsible for operating the brakes on a train.
Compound of 'brake' and 'hand' (from Old English 'hand'). This occupational term emerged during the railway boom of the 19th century.
Brakehands on old steam trains had incredibly dangerous jobs—they'd have to jump between cars during a moving train to manually turn brake wheels, and many fell to their deaths!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.