cabin boy

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noun

a boy employed as a servant for the officers and passengers on a ship.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

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Origin of cabin boy

First recorded in 1720–30

Words nearby cabin boy

cabezon, cabildo, Cabimas, cabin, cabin attendant, cabin boy, cabin class, cabin court, cabin cruiser, Cabinda, cabin deck

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use cabin boy in a sentence

Horn, who ran away from home at 13, was a cabin boy on the ship.
Siegfried Fischbacher, half of large-animal magic team Siegfried & Roy, dies at 81|Matt Schudel|January 14, 2021|Washington Post
In the special, Workman plays the old man who, as a cabin boy, watched the pirates bury their treasure.
Garfield Television: The Cat Who Saved Primetime Cartoons|Rich Goldstein|November 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He stars alongside eternal comedy underdog Chris Elliot (Get a Life, Cabin Boy) and Maria Thayer (Forgetting Sarah Marshall).
Brett Gelman Has Dinner with Your Favorite TV Sidekicks|Rich Goldstein|April 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The sound was close by, and yet it did not come from the cabin boy, for he was all doubled up laughing, his face as red as a beet.
Beautiful Joe|Marshall Saunders

I heard him mutter, "Beelzebub, prince of devils," so I suppose the cabin boy had given his bird a bad name.
Beautiful Joe|Marshall Saunders
Mr. Morris looked kindly at the cabin boy "Do you ever call the parrot by her whole name?"
Beautiful Joe|Marshall Saunders
This caveat duly lodged, he descended to the deck of his sloop, where he found the cabin boy shaking as with an ague.
Duffels|Edward Eggleston
Desirous then of providing for his own support, he went to sea and spent three years as cabin boy and sailor.
Lyman's History of old Walla Walla County, Vol. 2 (of 2)|William Denison Lyman

British Dictionary definitions for cabin boy

cabin boy

noun

a boy who waits on the officers and passengers of a ship

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