noun
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a man whose occupation is to serve at table, as in a restaurant
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an attendant at the London Stock Exchange or Lloyd's who carries messages: the modern equivalent of waiters who performed these duties in the 17th-century London coffee houses in which these institutions originated
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a person who waits
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a tray or salver on which dishes, etc, are carried
Gender
See -person.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of waiter
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at wait, -er 1
Explanation
The person who brings your food in a restaurant is a waiter. If you discover an insect in your gazpacho, you might call out, "Waiter! There's a fly in my soup!" These days it's more common to call the cafe worker who takes your order and delivers your nachos a server, since it's entirely gender-neutral, but some people still use waiter for a man or woman and waitress for a woman. Your grandpa might enjoy embarrassing the whole family by hollering, "Check please, waiter!" at the end of every restaurant meal. Before this word became common for restaurant servers, it was used for household servants who "waited at table."
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.
"I was in Athens, I was working as a waiter, and I quit my job to start singing in the streets," he tells the BBC.
From BBC • May 15, 2026
Police initially questioned two men, a taxi driver and a nightclub waiter, believed to be among the last to see him alive.
From BBC • Apr. 12, 2026
Bah, oui!—you probably will run into a mean waiter at some point.
From Barron's • Mar. 8, 2026
Their waiter Amir, who preferred not to share his last name, ferried packed peach-and-pineapple hookahs and tall glasses of pressed watermelon juice from the cafe’s kitchen to the table.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 28, 2026
“Keemun tea, please,” Frankie said as the waiter came by.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
Definitions 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.
