copyboy

American  

[kop-ee-boi] / ˈkɒp iˌbɔɪ /

noun

1. an employee who runs errands and carries copy from desk to desk in a newspaper office.

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Etymology

Origin of copyboy

First recorded in 1885–90; copy + boy

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

copyboy

After dropping out of law school at the University of Chicago, he stumbled into journalism as a copyboy at the City News Bureau, chasing police calls across the city.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2025

Maybe answering that question could be the Ph.D. thesis I was headed toward 66 years ago when I answered that ad for copyboy in the late, lamented sports department of the New York Times.

From Salon ● Nov. 26, 2023

Bernstein quickly graduated from copyboy to the dictation desk, the now-extinct place where reporters once phoned in their stories and where Bernstein’s typing skills won accolades from top editors.

From New York Times ● Jan. 7, 2022

Mr. Burson began his career as a journalist, working as a newspaper copyboy and then paying his way through college as a stringer for the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 12, 2020

A little after six thirty that evening, a copyboy walked in with a stack of papers.

From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin

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