busboy
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of busboy
1910–15, bus- short for omnibus waiter's helper ( 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.
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
Boss has worked as a server at the late Thaiger Room and Rom Mai Thai; JP tended bar at Pestle Rock and, at one point, worked as a busboy at a Vegas casino.
From Seattle Times • May 9, 2024
If he would work for $2.60 an hour — then 30 cents below the minimum wage — the manager said, they could use a busboy.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 19, 2023
He ordered both the busboy and the waiter, a partner’s nephew, to get out.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
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.
