Definition of "gaffer"

gaffer¹

/ɡæfɚ/

noun
plural gaffers
1. (film) A chief lighting technician for a motion-picture or television production.
2. A glassblower.
  Quotations
  The apprentice carries a gather of glass on the blowpipe to the gaffer's bench […]
  2003, Jennifer Bosveld, Glass Works, page 18

gaffer²

noun
plural gaffers
1. (colloquial) An old man.
  Quotations
  If thou return not, Gammer o'er her pailWill sing in sorrow, 'neath the brinded cow,And Gaffer sigh over his nut-brown ale […]
  1845, Thomas Cooper, The Purgatory of Suicides, Book the Fourth, Stanza IX
2. (UK, informal) The leader of a group or team, such as a boss, foreman, coach, or publican.
  Quotations
  And you're here to tell me what's what. Just like your bloody gaffer promised.
  2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 117
3. A sailor.
4. (Canada) The baby in the house.