waiter

American  

[wey-ter] / ˈweɪ tər /

noun

waiters plural

1. a person, especially a man, who waits on tables, as in a restaurant.

2. a tray for carrying dishes, a tea service, etc.; salver.

3. a person who waits or awaits.

4. Obsolete. an attendant.

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verb (used without object)

1. to work or serve as a waiter.

   to waiter in a restaurant.

waiter British  

/ ˈweɪtə /

noun

1. a man whose occupation is to serve at table, as in a restaurant

2. 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

3. a person who waits

4. a tray or salver on which dishes, etc, are carried

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Gender

See -person.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• waiterless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• waiters
  plural

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

See Examples For:

waiter waiters

I just saw the waiter put some chairs on top of a table.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

Alexander Garcia, a 44-year-old waiter, said he heard firefighters declare "Code 14," which he later found out meant that there were no survivors.

From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026

Don’t miss: ‘I’ll probably be working until I die’: I’m 60, work as a waiter and have $2,000 in a Roth IRA.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 20, 2026

So when the waiter places the card reader on the table at the end of the night, you are facing a social minefield.

From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026

“How many languages do you speak?” the man asks once the waiter has departed.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

The waiters move slowly, the mirrors hold onto the past.

From Salon ● Jun. 23, 2026

So when, at the first eat-in, at the Sands that February, the children defaulted to ordering hamburgers, Duncan barked to the waiters: “No, they do not want hamburgers. They want steak and lobster.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

But many recall how the place kept alive a fragment of Delhi's elite past through small rituals: liveried waiters at dusk, gin and lime on shaded verandas, retired generals and diplomats lingering under neem trees.

From BBC ● May 25, 2026

Too many of them encountered crowded attractions, overpriced restaurants, and rude Paris waiters.

From Barron's ● Mar. 8, 2026

Around the occupied tables handsome waiters gathered, their black hair slicked back into bullfighters' little ponytails.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez

Related Words

• server
• waitperson
• waitress