What does "waiter" mean?
A male or female attendant who serves customers at their tables in a restaurant, café or similar.
Waiter
/ˈweɪtə/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A male or female attendant who serves customers at their tables in a restaurant, café or similar.
- Grammar: waiter is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: server, aide, attendant, barmaid.
- Useful contrasts: busser, customer, guest.
- Usage evidence: The waiter brought a new plate.
How to use "waiter"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "waiter" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "waiter" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "waiter" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "waiter" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "waiter" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "server" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "waiter", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A male or female attendant who serves customers at their tables in a restaurant, café or similar.
"Waiter! There's a fly in my soup."
- 2 a person whose occupation is to serve at table (as in a restaurant) wordnet
- 3 Someone who waits for somebody or something; a person who is waiting.
"However, the NTPF also contained implicit negative incentives for the public sector by offering alternative private sector treatment for the longest waiters at no extra cost to patients or no penalty to public providers."
- 4 a person who waits or awaits wordnet
- 5 A person working as an attendant at the London Stock Exchange. historical
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 A vessel or tray on which something is carried, as dishes, etc.; a salver. (See etymology of dumbwaiter.) obsolete
"Cautioning her, in these terms, not to trip over a heterogeneous litter of pastry-cook’s trays, lamps, waiters full of glasses, and piles of rout seats which were strewn about the hall, plainly bespeaking a late party on the previous night, the man led the way to the second story […]"
- 7 A custom house officer; a tide waiter. obsolete
- 8 A watchman. obsolete
Verb
- 1 To work as a waiter. stative
"I had definitely had my fill of factory jobs, but had never worked in an office, nor bussed, nor waitered."
Antonyms
Example
"The waiter brought a new plate."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "waiter"?
Common synonyms include: server, aide, attendant, barmaid, bartender, busboy.
How do you use "waiter" in a sentence?
The waiter brought a new plate.
How do you pronounce "waiter"?
Pronounced /ˈweɪtə/.
Etymology
From late 14th century Middle English waiter, wayter (“attendant, watchman”). By surface analysis, wait + -er. Sense of "servant who waits at tables" is from late 15th century, originally in reference to household servants; in reference to inns, eating houses, etc., it is attested from 1660s. Feminine form waitress first recorded 1834. The London Stock Exchange sense harks back to the early days of trading in coffee-shops.