char-boy

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From char +‎ boy.

Noun

char-boy (plural char-boys)

  1. (dated) A young male employed to do housework or other odd jobs.
    Coordinate term: charwoman
    • 1885, Leroy M. Yale, M.D. (medical editor), Marion Harland (Editor of General Nursery Topics), “Babyhood”, in Babyhood, A Monthly Magazine For Mothers‎[1], volume 2, page 409:
      They think only of the tasks of a slave, a drudge, or a char-boy.
    • 1892, André Laurie, Paschal Grousset, Schoolboy Days in Russia, page 275:
      When they were hastily summoned at dawn by one of the char-boys, they found the janitor in his little room, bent almost double, and to all appearance dead.
    • 1924, Earle Ennis, “A Royal Hiatus”, in Radio‎[2], volume 6, page 21:
      "The whole kingdom is aware of the facts. Not a char-boy within fifty miles but what knows that I haven't had a change of pearls for three weeks!"
    • 1925, McFadden Business Publications (publisher), “Death of Milton E. Ailes, President Riggs National Bank, Washington D.C.”, in The Southern Banker‎[3], volumes 44-45, page 30:
      Mr. Ailes rose from a char boy in the Treasury Department to a leading figure in Washington's financial sphere.
    • 1996, Roy Humphreys, To Stop a Rising Sun, Reminiscences of Wartime in India and Burma, page 59:
      Proper char-boys, clean sheets and blankets, soft pillows, pyjamas and - best of all - hot and cold showers.
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