counterman

American  

[koun-ter-man] / ˈkaʊn tərˌmæn /

noun

countermen plural

1. a person who waits on customers from behind a counter, as in a cafeteria.

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• countermen
  plural

Etymology

Origin of counterman

First recorded in 1850–55; counter ¹ + man

Example Sentences

These days, Iqbal, the head chef, might call Asad, the sous-chef and counterman, late at night with his latest inspiration, like a dish the pair once offered as a special: cheesesteak samosas.

From Washington Post • Jan. 3, 2022

As a student, Mr. Chirac attended a summer course at Harvard in 1953 and worked at a Howard Johnson’s in Boston, starting as a dishwasher and working his way up to counterman.

From New York Times • Sep. 26, 2019

Walk into Miller’s Paints in Bangor, in the north of the county, and there are two examples: the owner, Duane Miller, 80, and the counterman, Dalton Tucker, 20.

From The Guardian • Jan. 20, 2018

But from your counter seat, you can observe the counterman make egg creams the old-fashioned way, by spritzing rapidly stirred cold milk and syrup with a jet of seltzer from a bottle.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 1, 2014

“Don’t know nothing about that,” said the counterman.

From "Tuck Everlasting" by Natalie Babbit