dumbwaiter
Americannoun
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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.
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British.
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an auxiliary serving table.
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a serving stand with tiers of revolving shelves.
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a serving cart.
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noun
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a stand placed near a dining table to hold food
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US and Canadian name: lazy Susan. a revolving circular tray placed on a table to hold food
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a lift for carrying food, rubbish, etc, between floors
Etymology
Origin of dumbwaiter
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.
According to OSHA, the companies’ employees and subcontractors were exposed to “pinch-point hazards” associated with the dumbwaiter and didn’t ensure employees and contractors were qualified to operate the device.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 29, 2023
It's a dumbwaiter that was designed to carry these heavy glass plates.
From Scientific American • Jun. 22, 2023
He also tinkered with a way of improving a dumbwaiter, the elevator typically used to deliver food and other goods from one floor to another.
From Salon • Apr. 30, 2022
When it got crazy, they would put me in this dumbwaiter between levels in the restaurant and send me to this downstairs bar.
From Los Angeles Times • May 24, 2018
Francie and Neeley went down into the cellar each evening and emptied the dumbwaiter shelves of the day’s accumulated trash.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
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.
