waitress

[ wey-tris ]

noun

1. a woman who waits on tables, as in a restaurant.

verb (used without object)

1. to work or serve as a waitress:

   She waitressed in a restaurant to help pay her way through college.

waitress

/ ˈweɪtrɪs /

noun

1. a woman who serves at table, as in a restaurant

verb

1. intr to act as a waitress

Gender Note

See -ess, -person.

Word History and Origins

Origin of waitress¹

First recorded in 1580–90; wait(e)r + -ess

Example Sentences

I just want to walk into a home every day filled with the smell of the short rib from Squable, and the waitress there told me to get the sourdough to soak up the broth and I’m forever glad she did.

From The Daily Beast

Their solution is to not let the AI analyze specific demographic information like names, addresses, or gendered terms like waitress.

From MIT Technology Review

When I was a teenager, working weekends as a waitress, applying to college, trying to keep my grades up, navigating the mean girls, I struggled with depression.

From Washington Post

After discussing her stints as a waitress and other customer-service jobs, Imani, who now works as a project manager in e-commerce, was surprised that Caston had never worked in the service industry.

From Washington Post

Brina’s mother dropped out of school in the eighth grade to work in a factory and later became a waitress in a nightclub.

From Washington Post

She is a waitress, he helps run the family ranch, and something more criminal.

From The Daily Beast

Why, then, does working in one almost guarantee a waitress, hostess, or bartender will be at the receiving end of such harassment?

From The Daily Beast

Over dinner, an elderly waitress at a nearby restaurant thought the timing of the attack was suspicious.

From The Daily Beast

Bowie was born David Jones to a waitress mother and public relations father in Brixton, England, in 1947.

From The Daily Beast

“I remember a lot of advances from my waitress/bartender days,” one woman replied.

From The Daily Beast

Scattergood ate with ease and pleasure two complete suppers—to the openly expressed admiration of Emma, the waitress.

From Project Gutenberg

I never, even at my loneliest, held a waitress or attendant in talk for any satisfaction I had in her nearness.

From Project Gutenberg

Yamba acted as cook and waitress, but after a time the work was more than she could cope with unaided.

From Project Gutenberg

Tom Chavis told me yesterday that you are interested in a waitress in Lazette.

From Project Gutenberg

If your household does not include a waitress, there is a class of small services which need to be done before each meal.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• flight attendant
• hostess
• stewardess
• waiter