Naut. [f. WAIST + -ER1.] (See quots.)
1815. Falconer’s Dict. Marine (ed. Burney), Waisters, a name given, to the men stationed in the waist in working the ship.
1846. A. Young, Naut. Dict., Waisters, ‘green hands, or broken-down seamen,’ placed in the waist of a ship of war, to do duty not requiring a knowledge of seamanship.
1850. H. Melville, White Jacket, I. iii. 12. Then, there are the Waisters, always stationed on the gun-deck. These haul aft the fore and main-sheets, besides being subject to ignoble duties; attending to the drainage [etc.].
1854. J. Hannay, Sand & Shells, 13. Mr. Crabb relieved his feelings by pegging into an idle ‘waister’ with his ‘colt.’
