tidewaiter

American  

[tahyd-wey-ter] / ˈtaɪdˌweɪ tər /

noun

1. a customs officer who checks goods upon a vessel's landing, to secure the payment of duties.

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tidewaiter British  

/ ˈtaɪdˌweɪtə /

noun

1. (formerly) a customs officer who boarded and inspected incoming ships

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Other Word Forms

• tidewaitership noun

Etymology

Origin of tidewaiter

First recorded in 1700–15; tide ¹ ( def. ) + waiter ( def. )

Example Sentences

Perhaps they may get that in time; at present they go away growling with a gaugership; or, having with desperate dexterity at length contrived to transform a tidewaiter into a landwaiter.

From Sybil, or the Two Nations by Disraeli, Benjamin, Earl of Beaconsfield

From the noblemen who held the white staff and the great seal, down to the humblest tidewaiter and gauger, what would now be called gross corruption was practiced without disguise and without reproach.

From The History of England, from the Accession of James II — Volume 1 by Macaulay, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron