swinker means A toiler; a labourer. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why “swinker” is a great word
A person who works hard; a laborer or toiler. From Middle English swinkere, from swink (meaning 'to toil or labor,' from Old English swincan) + the agent suffix -er. Unlike 'laborer'—a general, modern term stripped of poetic heft—or 'drudge'—which implies a soul-crushing grind—a swinker is defined by the sheer, unadorned exertion of the task. It is the rhythmic swing of the scythe in the high summer sun, the patient, earth-darkened hands turning the soil, and the steady, sweat-darkened back of the hod-carrier ascending the scaffold—a figure worn smooth by the grain of their own effort, whose dignity is inseparable from their fatigue.
Etymology
From Middle English swinkere, equivalent to swink + -er.
noun
- A toiler; a labourer.“Ye are twin swinkers in this nether field / One to prolong, the other to expand, / My landmark and my clock; but both must yield, / To the destroying angel's flaming wand, […]”