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

There remains a strict sense of territory and hierarchy as the waitresses do their work and the chefs do theirs, all with an anxious intensity.

From Los Angeles Times

The kitchen turns into a madhouse with cooks working and waitresses fighting to get their orders out first, all while the floor is flooded with soda.

From Los Angeles Times

When she played an insecure, nutty waitress who sketches her idols from the 1960s in “After Hours,” The Times called her performance “touchingly bizarre.”

From Los Angeles Times

There are some handshakes before Khal talks to the waitress in German and then switches back to Arabic, his native tongue.

From BBC

In Louisville, I asked a waitress, “If I’m an undecided voter, who would you recommend I vote for?”

From Salon

Related Words

• flight attendant
• hostess
• stewardess
• waiter