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.
It's a dumbwaiter that was designed to carry these heavy glass plates.
From Scientific American ● Jun. 22, 2023
Built in 1892, its features from that era include a 25-foot-long hallway, pocket doors and a butler’s pantry with a dumbwaiter.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 29, 2022
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 the pair inexplicably start getting very specific food requests via a dumbwaiter, the job suddenly changes.
From New York Times ● Jul. 9, 2021
Another innovation was the dumbwaiter, which moved hot food and bottles of wine from the belowground kitchens and storerooms—called “dependencies”—up to the first floor.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
