doorman
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of doorman
Explanation
A doorman's job involves being stationed near a door, to monitor the entrance and hold the door for people as they come and go. Fancy hotels and apartment buildings usually have a doorman. The doorman at the hotel where you're staying in New York might call a cab for you, or take your suitcase and find a bellhop to carry it to your room. The presence of a doorman can make a building feel more elegant, and also safer — one of a doorman's jobs is keeping an eye on things and providing security. In the UK, a doorman is also called a porter.
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.
In the lyrics, the star namechecks her then-roommate Martin Burgoyne, the club's doorman Haoui Montaug, and actress Debi Mazar, one of Madonna's oldest friends, who she first met at the club.
From BBC • Jun. 26, 2026
“Everything is going up,” said Ariel Buenaventura, a doorman at a 16-story red-brick building on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
“Later, he covered her rent and furnished her apartment in a doorman building in the West Village.”
From Slate • Nov. 19, 2025
A former doorman from Blyth, Tony MacDonald delivered training to staff in children's homes 15 years ago and now volunteers with the charity Northumberland Community and Voluntary Action.
From BBC • Oct. 14, 2025
I asked a doorman where to find a room for the night.
From "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
