waitress

American  

[wey-tris] / ˈweɪ trɪs /

noun

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

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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 British  

/ ˈweɪtrɪs /

noun

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

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verb

1. (intr) to act as a waitress

Gender

See -ess, -person.

Etymology

Origin of waitress

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

Example Sentences

Allen showed up as herself, but filling in as a waitress at their table.

From Los Angeles Times

After a trip to the restroom revealed that I was bleeding, I started to wonder if the waitress had been right.

From Salon

“They are not allowing any of my family members here,” said Anastazia Bununsi, an Eritrean waitress who came to Kampala as an asylum seeker.

From The Wall Street Journal

When she finished in 2001, she knew she couldn’t afford graduate school so she worked as a waitress while attempting to convince film students to let her shoot their thesis films.

From Los Angeles Times

She took jobs in the low-wage services sector, working first as a waitress in Florida, then a maid in Maine and finally as a retail associate at a Walmart store in Minnesota.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• flight attendant
• hostess
• stewardess
• waiter