dumbwaiter

[ duhm-wey-ter ]

/ ˈdʌmˌweɪ tər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR dumbwaiter ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a small elevator, manually or electrically operated, consisting typically of a box with shelves, used in apartment houses, restaurants, and large private dwellings for moving dishes, food, garbage, etc., between floors.

British.

an auxiliary serving table.
a serving stand with tiers of revolving shelves.
a serving cart.

RELATED WORDS

escalator, hoist, conveyor, trolley

Nearby words

Origin of dumbwaiter

First recorded in 1745–55; dumb + waiter

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for dumbwaiter

The morning after a wild night, Stone whips up some eggs and English muffins and sends them upstairs in a dumbwaiter to Carrie.
Do I Have to Read Kisser?|William Boot|February 13, 2010|DAILY BEAST
At the tradesmen's entrance, where he had gone before to hoist on the dumbwaiter, he entered the building.
The Voice on the Wire|Eustace Hale Ball
For it opened upon what seemed to be just a dumbwaiter shaft.
The Bradys' Chinese Clew|Francis Worcester Doughty
Rose tied the balloons to a basket, and the clothes basket rides on the dumbwaiter.
Six Little Bunkers at Aunt Jo's|Laura Lee Hope

Open the little door to the dumbwaiter in the pantry and find supplies.
A Woman for Mayor|Helen M. Winslow
All dishes are to be removed quietly, and either placed in a dumbwaiter or given in charge of a maidservant just outside the door.
Social Life|Maud C. Cooke

British Dictionary definitions for dumbwaiter

dumbwaiter

/ (ˈdʌmˌweɪtə) /

noun

British

a stand placed near a dining table to hold food
a revolving circular tray placed on a table to hold foodUS and Canadian name: lazy Susan

a lift for carrying food, rubbish, etc, between floors

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for dumbwaiter

dumbwaiter

1749, an article of furniture, from dumb (adj.) + waiter (apparently because it serves as a waiter but is silent). As a movable platform for passing dishes, etc., up and down from one room (especially a basement kitchen) to another, from 1847.