conductress

[kuhn-duhk-tris]

noun

1. a woman who conducts; a female leader, guide, director, or manager.

2. a woman who is employed as a conductor on a bus, train, or other public conveyance.

Gender Note

What's the difference between conductress and conductor? See -ess.

Word History and Origins

Origin of conductress¹

First recorded in 1615–25; conduct(o)r + -ess

Example Sentences

During World War Two she moved to Glasgow to work as a conductress on the trams and survived the Clydebank blitz.

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So the first words heard on BBC Two were from a story about a bus conductress who had been sacked for insulting Pakistani passengers, including the very phrase she had used.

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"The worst were the conductresses, I have to say," Fear recalls.

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When Holmes came in sight of them, his treacherous conductress pointed out that in which the sick woman lay.

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From the r�fectoire we passed again into the corridor, where we made our adieus to our affable conductress.

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