Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

purser

American  
[pur-ser] / ˈpɜr sər /

noun

  • pursers
    plural
  1. an officer on a ship who handles financial accounts and various documents relating to the ship and who keeps money and valuables for passengers.


purser British  
/ ˈpɜːsə /

noun

  1. an officer aboard a passenger ship, merchant ship, or aircraft who keeps the accounts and attends to the welfare of the passengers

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of purser

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at purse, -er 1


Vocabulary lists containing purser

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.

See Examples For:

Laffey Inman fought to become the first female purser at what was then known as Northwest Orient Airlines.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 16, 2024

The brothers made their professional debut as children, when their father put them on a boat to Detroit to visit an uncle and told the purser the boys would put on a free show.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 30, 2023

Davies, originally from Cheshire, began his TV career as an announcer on Southern Television in 1960, having previously spent seven years as a purser for the cruise company Cunard Line.

From BBC ● Feb. 19, 2023

The place is run efficiently and with zest by veterans of South African Airways, Theunis Botha, who was a purser, and Denise Potter, who was an air hostess.

From New York Times ● Apr. 11, 2019

If so be I do not return by that time, let the purser mark me off the books, 'D.D.'

From A Lad of Grit A Story of Adventure on Land and Sea in Restoration Times by Percy F. (Percy Francis) Westerman

“Those include the fish processing workers, U.S. Coast Guard licensed personnel, refrigeration specialists, marine electricians, fish crews, pursers, cooks and others.”

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 18, 2021

The Dubai-based company’s pursers are issued with Thinkpad laptops from Lenovo Group Ltd., the second-biggest maker of personal computers, that convert into tablets operated with a stylus.

From BusinessWeek ● Feb. 16, 2012

A troupe of Yemenite dancers walked ashore with their luggage on their heads, and pursers and stewards from the U.S.S.

From Time Magazine Archive

The stewards, deckhands, pursers, eager to chatter, reported that for 51 days they had been nursing a party of middle-western ministers to and from the Holy Land.

From Time Magazine Archive

Harbormasters, tax farmers, customs sergeants, wool factors, toll collectors, pursers, wine factors; nine of every ten belonged to Littlefinger.

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 14,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training