bell-boy
[bell n.1 1.]
1. A boy who rings a bell.
| 1851 Melville Moby Dick I. xxxix. 274 Eight bells there! d'ye hear, bell-boy? Ibid. III. xxxix. 227 ‘Who art thou, boy?’ ‘Bell-boy, sir; ship's-crier. Ding, dong, ding!’ |
2. A hotel page-boy. U.S.
| 1861 G. F. Berkeley Eng. Sportsman 366 ‘What are you, then, young fellow?’ ‘I'm bell-boy.’ 1897 Kipling Capt. Cour. ix. 196 Hotel piazzas where the ingenuous young of the wealthy play with or revile the bell-boys. 1932 E. Wilson Devil take Hindmost xxiii. 245 Glimpses as a bellboy of the luxurious life of the hotel. |