ˈpot-boy
[f. pot n.1 1 c, 2 b + boy n.1]
A boy or young man employed at a tavern or public house to serve the customers with beer, or to carry beer to outside customers; a publican's assistant.
| 1795 Chron. in Ann. Reg. 2 The circumstance that led to the discovery..was that of kidnapping a pot-boy. 1852 Dickens Bleak Ho. xi, The potboy..having to deal with drunken men occasionally. 1877 Black Green Past. xi, He rose, and the publican and the pot-boy were astonished to find the difference in the appearance of this coster's face. |
Hence (nonce-wds.) ˈpotboydom, the class of pot-boys; ˈpotboyship, the position of a pot-boy.
| 1841 Fraser's Mag. XXIII. 439 He..bestowed the pot⁓boyship upon the youthful Ginginbetters. 1850 Kingsley Alt. Locke xiii, It is a part of his game to ingratiate him⁓self with all pot-boy-dom. |