cabin boy

American  

noun

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

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cabin boy British  

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of cabin boy

First recorded in 1720–30

Example Sentences

The 1884 death of a cabin boy in a lifeboat was no accident.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 3, 2025

When the storm that sank the ship surged again, a young cabin boy was left stranded.

From National Geographic • Aug. 18, 2023

Here you have this man who goes to the Arctic at 18 as a cabin boy for Commander Peary.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 28, 2022

Not to mention the shabby way he treated the loyal Bob Hobbitt, whose ailing little son, Puny Pete, longed to leave life as a cabin boy for a career as a seamstress.

From New York Times • Dec. 25, 2014

If there never was a fire pit, the cabin boy knew that to find his treasure, his descendants would need to explore another way of solving the problem.

From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein