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Synonyms

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.


Etymology

Origin of copyboy

First recorded in 1885–90; copy + 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.

See Examples For:

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

He became a copyboy at what then was International News Service and went to high school at night.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 1, 2017

The paths that once took 16 year-old school-leavers from shopfloor to boardroom or from copyboy to newspaper editor are blocked.

From The Guardian ● Jan. 8, 2013

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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