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altar boy

See more synonyms for altar boy on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a male altar server.
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Origin of altar boy

First recorded in 1765–75
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for altar boy

Historical Examples

  • How you ever got beyond being an altar-boy is more than I can see.

    Fanny Herself

    Edna Ferber

  • After some hesitation Weasel took the gun, holding it stiffly in front of him, as an altar-boy might a sacred thing.

  • He served the mass, an altar-boy at the Convent of the Propagation, and revealed unpleasant traits of character.

    Egoists

    James Huneker

  • If you don't mind I'll stay outside in the hall, and rush in to act as altar-boy, when she agrees to 'vert.

    The Art of Disappearing

    John Talbot Smith

  • An assistant priest and a barefooted Mexican altar-boy stood framed in the arch of the ancient portal.

    Mariposilla

    Mary Stewart Daggett

British Dictionary definitions for altar boy

altar boy

noun
  1. RC Church Church of England a boy serving as an acolyte
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012