See also: bo'sun Alternative forms bo'sun, bo's'n, bos'n Etymology Corruption of boatswain. Pronunciation Audio (US):(file) Noun bosun (plural bosuns) Alternative form of boatswain (“warrant or petty officer on board a naval ship”) 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:They tied us up—the fellow who handled me could tie like a bosun—and there we lay with our toes up, beneath a tree, while a great brute stood guard over us with a club in his hand. Derived terms bosun's chair rum bosun Translations boatswain — see boatswain Anagrams Bonsu, bonus, bouns Pronunciation (Kautokeino) IPA(key): /ˈposuːn/ Verb bosun first-person singular present indicative of bossut