potboy

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See also: pot-boy, and pot boy

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From pot +‎ boy.

Noun

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potboy (plural potboys)

  1. A boy employed in a plant nursery to tap clay pots with a stick for their ringing sound, indicating whether the plant required watering.
    • GC&HTJ 1985 volume 198 page 17
  2. A boy employed as waiter to serve (pots of) drinks, as in a tavern.
    • 2012, Stephen King, 11/22/63, page 782:
      I put on my kitchen potboy disguise and rode down to B-1 in an elevator that smelled like chicken soup, barbecue sauce, and Jack Daniel's.
  3. (British) A boy or man employed in a public house to collect empty pots or glasses.
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See also

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References

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  • Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967