Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A restaurant employee who clears away dirty dishes, sets tables, and serves as an assistant to a waiter or waitress.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Assistant waiter; one who clears plates from and cleans tables; one who buses

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a restaurant attendant who sets tables and assists waiters and clears away dirty dishes

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[(omni)bus + boy.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

bus +‎ boy

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Examples

  • When the busboy is giving you better than service than your waiter.

    You Know You Live in Mexico When... 2000

  • I remember how Dad thought being a busboy was a real good job.

    Manchild in the Promised Land Claude Brown 1965

  • Service is obviously still taking shape...we weren't offered any water, I had to ask for silverware & napkins, our dishes should have arrived simultaneously to avoid the "no go ahead and start without me" uncomfortableness, we had to wait a bit for the waffles since there was the snafu with the lemon curd, plus the busboy was a bit too intent on clearing our plates quickly.

    Recent Reviews Near San Francisco, CA 2010

  • Taylor, who married and divorced Burton twice on her way to eight marriages, casually dismissed Mr. Fisher as "the busboy."

    Eddie Fisher dies at 82; 1950s singing star brought low by scandalous love life Matt Schudel 2010

  • Adam has opened 30 restaurants since 1984, working his way up from age 14 as a busboy and dishwasher to becoming a successful restaurateur in the Seattle area.

    Jay Weston: Xandros -- Greek Food and Dancing in Beverly Hills Jay Weston 2010

  • I was a busboy at the Golden Nugget, cleaning tables at the restaurant.

    Freddie Roach: 'Boxing gets in your blood and you just can't quit' 2011

  • Six-foot-eleven Stretch might tell us about the young ghost in his room the night before, and One-Armed Carlos would bus a table with his single appendage ten times faster than a busboy with twice the armage.

    Roseanne Archy Roseanne Barr 2011

  • There he worked as a busboy, waiter, whatever it took to make ends meet in Albany.

    Culinary Journey 2011

  • Six-foot-eleven Stretch might tell us about the young ghost in his room the night before, and One-Armed Carlos would bus a table with his single appendage ten times faster than a busboy with twice the armage.

    Roseanne Archy Roseanne Barr 2011

  • Adam has opened 30 restaurants since 1984, working his way up from age 14 as a busboy and dishwasher to becoming a successful restaurateur in the Seattle area.

    Jay Weston: Xandros -- Greek Food and Dancing in Beverly Hills Jay Weston 2010

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