hostler

[hos-ler, os-ler]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hostler ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person who takes care of horses, especially at an inn.

an employee who moves and services trains, buses, or other vehicles after their regular runs or who does the maintenance work on large machines.

RELATED WORDS

equerry

Nearby words

Origin of hostler

1350–1400; Middle English; variant of hosteler

Related formshos·tler·ship, noun

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

Examples from the Web for hostler

Mrs. Fairbank remains with the hostler, and favors me with a look at parting.
The Lock And Key Library|Various
The stage had been backed up, a hostler in the driver's seat, and the mail and express were being loaded.
Laramie Holds the Range|Frank H. Spearman
He knew that a hostler slept all night in Hydes livery stable, and that there was a bell by which the man might be aroused.
The New Boys at Oakdale|Morgan Scott
The hostler hastened to do so, and Dr. Cobb looked keenly at Nemo.
Frank Merriwell's Races|Burt L. Standish

This run is on a branch road, and the engineer is compelled to do hostler's duty for his engine at both ends of his run.
The Great Strike on the 'Q'|John A. Hall

British Dictionary definitions for hostler

hostler

noun

another name (esp Brit) for ostler

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 hostler

hostler

late 14c., "one who tends to horses at an inn," also, occasionally, "innkeeper," from Anglo-French hostiler, Old French hostelier "innkeeper, steward" (12c., Modern French hôtelier), from Medieval Latin hostilarius "the monk who entertains guests at a monastery," from hospitale "inn" (see hospital). See also ostler.