A ship designed to carry cargo across large lakes, or a player or team from a place with lakes in its name (like the Lakers basketball team).
From 'lake' (a body of water) + agent suffix '-er'. The nautical sense developed in the 1800s when cargo ships were built specifically for the Great Lakes. The sports sense is simply shorthand for teams named after lake regions.
The Great Lakes freighters called 'lakers' are massive ships that can only sail on lakes—they're too big to fit through the canal locks that connect to the ocean! This created a special class of ships you'll never see on the Atlantic, making the Great Lakes shipping industry completely unique.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.