hoveller

noun — 2 senses

noun

/ˈhɒvələ(ɹ)/

UK, Dialectal One who assists in saving life and property from a wreck; a coast boatman.

How it was that the fishermen, and hovellers, and smugglers got an inkling of what we were about, I don't know.1839, George Payne Rainsford James, Charles Tyrrell: Or, The Bitter Blood:

A small boat used on the coast.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.