janitor
a person employed in an apartment house, office building, school, etc., to clean the public areas, remove garbage, and do minor repairs; caretaker.
Archaic. a doorkeeper or porter.
to be employed as a janitor.
Origin of janitor
1Other words from janitor
- jan·i·to·ri·al [jan-i-tawr-ee-uhl], /ˌdʒæn ɪˈtɔr i əl/, adjective
- un·der·jan·i·tor, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use janitor in a sentence
Both the general public and economic elites have a lot of sympathy for janitors who are trying to make ends meet.
Why Progressives Shouldn’t Support Public Workers Unions | Dmitri Mehlhorn | July 11, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTSean Augustine, the editor of the Columbia Lion, told me janitors were taking down the lists almost as soon as they went up.
Someone Is Writing Lists of ‘Rapists’ on Columbia’s Walls | Olivia Nuzzi | May 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAmerica also needs doctors, computer programmers, chemists, mechanics, and janitors.
Richard Hofstadter and America’s New Wave of Anti-Intellectualism | David Masciotra | March 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe president should have said it would lead to a cut in overtime for Capitol Hill janitors, causing them to ... earn less pay.
For a couple of hours, we were also told that the janitors were on contract — and contracts were being curtailed.
The Administration's Thin Complaints About the Sequester | Megan McArdle | March 6, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
And, requesting one of the assistant janitors to do the errand, Tom proceeded to chapel.
Tom Fairfield's Schooldays | Allen ChapmanThere were also porters in stores and janitors whose weekly wages averaged between $15 and $18 per week.
Negro Migration during the War | Emmett J. ScottThe man told the janitors that his name was Folces, that he belonged to the praefect of Rome and desired speech with the Augusta.
"Unto Caesar" | Baroness Emmuska OrczyDoors swung back and it swept in, a great wave, almost overturning the janitors.
Port O' Gold | Louis John StellmanI realized that it was a bothersome moral responsibility—placing the lives of others (even if janitors) in jeopardy.
Turns about Town | Robert Cortes Holliday
British Dictionary definitions for janitor
/ (ˈdʒænɪtə) /
Scot, US and Canadian the caretaker of a building, esp a school
mainly US and Canadian a person employed to clean and maintain a building, esp the public areas in a block of flats or office building; porter
Origin of janitor
1Derived forms of janitor
- janitorial (ˌdʒænɪˈtɔːrɪəl), adjective
- janitress, fem n
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
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