busboy
Americannoun
-
busboys
plural
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of busboy
1910–15, bus- short for omnibus waiter's helper ( see omnibus) + boy
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The man who became Buddy Bradley was born Clarence Bradley Epps in 1905 in Clarkesville, Ga. Orphaned at 14, he moved to Harrisburg, Pa., and soon went to work as a busboy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
Hazrat, who started as a busboy, served the hotel for five decades; in a different setting, his dedication and diligence might eventually have lofted him to a leadership role.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 20, 2025
It was the lunch rush earlier this week, yet every Gale’s server, busboy and cook stopped what they were doing to shake Jarrín’s hand.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 27, 2025
He stars as the busboy at a beatnik bar who uses his incredibly lifelike sculptures to impress the hip clientele.
From New York Times ● May 12, 2024
I became a busboy at the Parker House in Boston..
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
Night Fever goes late enough that at a certain point one of the busboys runs around with all this pizza and says, “Someone accidentally delivered all this pizza.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 30, 2022
A stay at a hotel bears witness to maids and hosts; dinner sees chefs, busboys and waiters; an excursion requires a tour guide, a driver, a boat mechanic if you’re lucky.
From New York Times ● Jul. 13, 2022
He figured it was easy work — that any profession that advertised next to requests for porters, busboys and dishwashers must require no special talent.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 7, 2022
Ghost kitchens, which are popping up across the country, have no dining rooms, waiters, cashiers or busboys.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 16, 2019
Between the base pay of $2.15 an hour and the obligation to share tips with the busboys and dishwashers, we’re averaging only about $7.50 an hour.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
